Saving Part of the World
by Zadien
Summary: “I didn’t know that last night. I had another vision this morning while I was brushing my teeth. I almost died.” “In the vision?” “No. In the bathroom. I choked on the toothbrush.” He said with a small moue.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the characters of Beyblade or the bitbeasts, nor do I own anything related to the City of Belfast or Ireland. I do however own Amber Benson.

**A.N.**:My very first Beyblade fanfiction set in the Beyblading world. I've wanted to do one for years but could never think of a plot that hadn't been done to death or wasn't clichéd. Until I came up with this one while talking to Nexess and then everything fell into place. Hopefully you'll enjoy it and hopefully it's unique. I gave up reading Beyblade Fanfiction a long time ago so I don't really know what's out there anymore.

**Summary** – Beyblading has finally come to Ireland. Woot! Now as well as navigating rural highways, invading cow territory and taking on the World champs all over again, the beybladers must face... fairies. That's right, fairies. They're cute and fluffy and are out to take over the world using the bitbeasts.

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Saving Part of the World

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By: Zadien

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_Chapter One: Ireland, here we come_

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"Not for nothing is Eire- to use Ireland's ancient, Celtic name – called the Emerald Isle. Its stunning, shamrock green is the product of the mild, humid and ever changing climate created by the Atlantic weather systems washing over one of Europe's most westerly isles." Hilary Tachibana read; quoting the brochure as the Bladebreakers stood outside the Belfast City airport staring out into the heavy downpour that was ravaging the car park.

"Mild, humid weather." Tyson Granger, the current world champion in the sport of Beyblading, repeated dully before rounding on the pretty brunette. "Are you insane? Does that look mild? Does it feel humid?"

Hilary flinched. Well was it her fault the brochure got in wrong? Did she write it? No, if she was writing it, she would have made a point of letting people know that in a space of ten minutes, the day could go from dry to sopping wet. She tentatively touched her hair and cringed when she felt how bushy it had become. The weather was doing nothing for its condition. Warm air and wet rain, it was a bad combination and her legs were getting cold from the fat wet drops that splattered against them and ran down into her socks. She would get a cold by the end of the day, she just knew it. Whose bright idea was it to hold the World Championship in Ireland? Why couldn't Europe, who were hosting it this year, hold it in one of their warmer countries, like France or Spain, she'd read that Portugal was nice at this time of year, certainly warmer at any rate. She sighed softly.

"She did say ever-changing." Max Tate, best friend of said World Champion, defended her and she smiled warmly at him. She liked Max, she had always liked Max. He was funny and cheerful and always looked on the bright side of life. It would be nice to have him back on the team since the American team didn't need him now that Steve was fully recovered.

"Ireland's well known for its rain." This input came from the ever level-headed Rei Kon. He was once a member of the Chinese team but this year he had decided to return to the Bladebreakers considering the rules required for there to be four members per team. According to the boys, the BBA had decided to use the old rules of four players to a team and three players per game. Since Kai was still with the Russian Team, the Bladebreakers had an extra spot available since Kenny's talent with the blade wasn't exactly world championship level. Not that she'd ever say that to him because Kenny, despite being the most helpful member of the team and so shy, could be touchy about certain things.

She watched as Rei shielded his eyes against the glare to look at the sky. It didn't seem as though the rain was going to stop any time soon and they weren't on a schedule. All Mr. Dickinson had said was for them to get a plane to Belfast and get a taxi to the hotel and for them to be there on the 28th of June. So here they were, ready and raring to go... whenever the rain stopped.

A plane roared over head, ascending into the sky and she blinked against the rain that stung her eyes. It was surprising just how wet it was considering just twenty minutes ago they had been walking through the arrivals area and outside the weather had been grey but dry, now the ground was soaked as though the rain had been pouring for eternity.

"Where are the taxis?" Kenny Koizumi asked as he pushed his glasses up his nose and peered through the rain spattered lenses.

"There're buses over there." Max commented, pointing out to the three buses, one a small private bus and another two that were longer.

"Mr. Dickinson said to take a taxi." Hilary informed them as she studied the grey sky. It never rained like this at home unless it was the rainy season. Wasn't it summer here in Ireland? Maybe this was what a summer in Ireland was like, non-stop rain.

"Do you think it'll rain for our entire time here?" Tyson unconsciously echoed her thoughts, leaning back against her suitcase and arranging his cap to sit firmly over his hair.

Hilary watched suspiciously as her classmate's eyes moved to the unspeaking member of their group. Kai Hiwatari, though no longer a member of the Bladebreakers team, was leaning against the glass wall at the exit of the airport. Despite his eyes being closed, it was a given fact that Kai was aware of everything. He was creepy like that.

"You going to speak any time soon Kai?" When the boy only opened his eyes and looked at him, before closing them once more, Tyson sighed loudly. "Jeez, he might as well have gone with Tala and co for all the attention he's paying us." If Kai got the jibe, he didn't seem to show it.

"Uh, guys? Where's Daichi?" Max suddenly asked.

Tyson groaned loudly while Hilary looked around anxiously. Oh no. Oh no, oh no. Mrs Sumeragi made her swear that she would look out for Daichi and keep him safe. As the youngest member of the team and the one most likely to get himself in trouble, she had taken that job very seriously -for about the length of one airplane journey! She was such a failure as a babysitter.

"Daichi! Where did you guys see him last? Daichi!"

"Ah don't worry about it, Hills. Monkey-boy's probably just found a tree to swing from." Tyson drawled lazily, linking his fingers behind his head and crossing his feet at his ankles; his lazy pose. She scowled darkly at him. It was just like Tyson not to take something, such as a member of their team going missing, seriously.

"Calm down, Hilary. I'll go back inside and see if I can find him." Rei offered because Rei was nice and Rei was kind.

"I'll go with you," She offered before growling at Tyson and feeling petty, she shoved him hard to the side. Because of his stance, he had no way to balance himself, so it was with great satisfaction that she watched him tip over and fall to the ground.

"HILARY!"

"You deserved that Tyson." Max stated calmly as he helped up the unfortunate boy while she stormed off with Rei following closely.

"Idiot."

She smirked at Kai's insult and walked with Rei back into the air conditioned lobby of the airport. "If Daichi's still in the Arrivals area, how are we going to find him?" She inquired, as she side stepped a family and their baggage.

Rei swept the lobby with his gaze, noting the Car Rental place, the information desk, the Juice Bar and coffee kiosk as well as the check in desk. "I guess we could just slip under the tape that cordon's off the two areas."

Hilary looked uneasily at two guards standing nearby. "You know how twitchy security in airports is these days. We could end up arrested, or worse." She clucked her tongue in disgust. "What was Daichi thinking?! I told him to stick close to us."

"That could have been your problem, Hilary. Daichi considers himself a grown-up-"

"He's thirteen years old, that's hardly a grown up."

"I wasn't much older myself when I started travelling to see the world of Beyblading."

"It's not safe to go out on your own these days. Weren't you worried about paedophiles or murderers?"

Rei simply smiled. "I didn't."

"You should have." She pointed out logically but she knew there was no point arguing about the past. Still, she wished that Daichi would exercise more caution. Some day he would get himself in a lot of trouble and who did he think would bail him out? "So what time are the White Tigers getting in?"

Rei excused himself as he passed through a crowd of harried travellers, "They're not coming."

"They're not? Why not?"

"Lee has his duties to think about. The elder is sick and soon the people of the village will be looking to Lee to guide them. He thinks it's time for him to settle down and learn what he needs to do before the village elder becomes too sick to teach him."

"Oh." She never realized what an important position Lee had in his village. She supposed it made sense that he would stay to look after his village and it showed a great deal of maturity. If only Tyson would exhibit a little of the same, it wasn't as though Grandpa Granger was going to be around forever and then who would look after the dojo? Tyson's father obviously had his own job to do that took him away from home a lot, and Hitoshi worked long hours for the BBA, not to mention how he had to travel a lot too. Of course, Tyson never thought of things like that. He never looked at the bigger picture.

"I think Kevin wants to try his hand at some other hobbies before he settles for one he's truly interested in. Last time I talked to him, he was mentioning something about tightrope walking."

"But what about his bitbeast?"

"Oh Galman's with him. Monkey's have surprisingly good agility and balance."

She paused for a moment. "Are you teasing me, Rei?"

He looked back at her and chuckled. "No, I'm serious. Kevin's... not the most normal of teenage boys. But he's doing what makes him happy. You never know, if he earns some money over the summer, he might come for the trip."

"And Mariah?"

"Hmm, she'll be here soon."

She watched the way his face softened and longed for someone who would make her look like that. It seemed impossible though. She was too overbearing and independent. No boy would like a girl like her; there had been one though, a boy at school but as soon as Tyson got wind of the boys crush on her, he was quick to dissuade Daisuke's interests in her. She allowed herself one mournful sigh before gaining control of herself. She didn't need a boy anyway. She had six of them already to look out for. Kai might not like the idea that she thought she looked after him but she did. While Tyson acted as though he needed looking after the most, Kai was the one she had to watch. The boy often seemed to skip meals when he was dwelling on his dark, innermost thoughts. The amount of meals he skipped out on was staggering and it made her wonder how he coped when she wasn't around. So even if he wasn't on the Bladebreakers team, she'd still keep an eye on him. The last thing he needed to do was faint out in the arena and chocolate wasn't a balanced meal.

"_AHHHHH_!"

The scream came from nowhere and everywhere at once, startling the people gathered in the lobby into pausing what they were doing. Rei and Hilary exchanged a pointed look. "Daichi." They mumbled in unison, running off in the direction of the scream.

They'd just cleared the ribbon at the cordoned off area when they caught sight of their missing teammate squealing and wriggling in the hands of two airport police. One was holding him roughly by the scruff of his collar and the other was giving him, what looked to be, a severe lecture but Daichi was too busy shouting and screaming to even hear what was being said.

Rei reached them first but Hilary was right behind him.

"Ah, officers? What seems to be the problem?"

"You know this runt?" The officer, with a large, coarse moustache, demanded as he jiggled Daichi lightly while the other officer spoke in low tones into his radio. Hilary watched the scene nervously. The last thing the Bladebreakers needed was this kind of press, hence why they had flown in early to avoid any kind of media coverage. Ever since Beyblading had burst out onto the national front last year, the Beybladers had been getting more and more interest from the media though she couldn't understand their interest in them. Twice since the school year had started in April, a reporter had been caught trying to take sneaky pictures of the world champion in his classes, sleeping in class and drooling on his homework. It didn't exactly improve the sports credibility.

"Who are you calling a runt? Dumbass! I'm an athlete, you hear me? An athlete! I'm famous!"

"Daichi-kun, please." Rei warned, before turning to the officer. "I'm sorry, sir, this is my teammate. Whatever he's done, I'm sure we can work things out."

They didn't seem to be the type who would work things out, Hilary thought especially not with the way they were holding Daichi. "Could you please let him go?"

"We caught this here kid climbing onto the conveyor belt at the baggage retrieval area and when we told him to get off, he ran for it."

"Daichi why were you even on the conveyor belt?!" Hilary demanded, taking a firm hold of Daichi's shoulder, when the officer let go of him, so that he couldn't make another quick escape.

"I couldn't get my bag, it was too far for me to reach so I climbed up to get it but then these guys yelled at me and I couldn't see you guys so..."

"So you ran for it," Rei sighed, "I'm sorry officers; I can assure you that he won't be causing anymore trouble."

"Don't you kids have a parent or something?" The second guy asked, having finished his conversation over the radio.

"Uh no, we're the Bladebreakers." At the man's blank look, Rei shot Hilary a quick glance.

"The Japanese Beyblading team, we're here for the world championships." She crossed her fingers and hoped that they had a clue about the championships.

"Oh yeah, I heard about that. You use spinning tops, right?" Hilary pasted on a smile and her grip on Daichi's shoulder became tighter as she felt the boy bristle. The officer looked at his partner and nodded. "Yeah. Ah well, the kid didn't do no harm, so I suppose it'll be alright if we let you go this once; just don't be causing anymore problems, alright?"

"Of course officers, thank you." Rei should have been a diplomat, Hilary mused as she watched the officers look at him as though Rei were an adult instead of a 17 year old boy. That was a pretty admirable trait especially when you had to handle teammates like Daichi and Tyson.

As the officers wandered off, Rei and Hilary each took an elbow each and began to lead Daichi and his bag towards the exit.

"It wasn't my fault!" Daichi exclaimed, wriggling in their hold.

Rei huffed out a breath, hoisting the boys' bag over his shoulder. "Daichi, you need to remember that you're a representative of the BBA, you have to show decorum at all times."

"Yeah yeah, so where's 'the world champ'?"

"Decorum means good manners Daichi; you're not showing much right now." Hilary added.

The small red haired boy made a face before shrugging off their grip. "I can walk by myself."

Rei and Hilary exchanged bemused glances as their younger teammate strutted out of the automatic doors and froze suddenly. "Why is it raining?" He demanded, pointing accusingly at Tyson as if it was all the navy haired boys fault that there was water pouring from the sky.

"Apparently it does that in Ireland." Max offered, studying the heavens' as if waiting for the rain to suddenly stop.

"Well," Hilary sighed, picking up the handle of her suitcase from behind Tyson, "I guess we should head off to the hotel. Did you guys see any sign of a taxi anywhere?"

The boys shook their heads –well Max and Tyson did but Kenny and Kai remained as quiet as ever; Kai not even bothering to open his eyes at her query and Kenny was playing with his new palm pilot, a mini computer that Dizzi complained was too much like a cage for her.

"It looks like it could rain forever." Daichi grumbled, holding a palm out and catching the drops on his rough palm.

"It won't, Daichi." Hilary was quick to soothe.

"Hey," A voice called out and Hilary looked up to see a girl approaching them. "Are you guys ok?"

"Yes, we're fine." Rei replied politely, sending a glance to the rest of them. "We should probably get going."

The girl cast a quick look to the sky as she passed them. "Actually, if you guys don't want to get wet, I'd advise you to wait for another ten minutes or so."

"Oh? Why?" Hilary wondered curiously, did she know something they didn't? Probably, she sounded local even if she was walking into an airport without any baggage.

The stranger stopped a little up the pavement from them, at the entrance to the airport; the grey hoody she was wearing was spattered with rain and the strands of black hair, that hadn't been covered by her hood, were plastered to her face. She flicked off her hood as she stepped under the shelter and turned to look up at the grey sky before pointing up. "See that blue sky?"

Hilary looked up at the grim looking sky and found herself feeling slightly sceptical at the girls' words, even as she spied the small patch of blue sky revealed by a break in the cotton clouds.

"That tiny piece of blue sky?" Tyson repeated dubiously watching the small glimmer of blue peeking through a gap in the grey clouds.

"Yeah, any minute now it'll clear up."

"Because of one piece of blue sky?" Max queried.

"What have you been smoking?" Daichi demanded, squinting at the girl.

"Daichi!" Horrified Hilary quickly covered the boys' mouth with her hand before offering a tentative smile to the girl. "I'm so sorry, he... I'm sorry."

The girl studied Daichi for a moment before smiling at Hilary. "Don't worry about it; I'm just saying that usually if there's one break in the clouds, there'll be others. It's supposed to get sunnier later today anyway, according to the forecast."

"Oh, well that's good."

"So why are you guys here? Is it your first time in Ireland?"

"Yes. We're here for the Beyblading tournament." Hilary deigned to answer, flicking a quick glance at the boys wondering if the girl could possibly be one of those scary fans that popped up every so often desperate for an autograph or a date. However the girl only nodded in understanding but showed no other sign of recognition. "We're just waiting for a taxi."

"Where are you guys staying?"

This time Hilary looked to Kai to answer because she wasn't going to be responsible for having a hoard of fans loitering in their lobby but she didn't want to be rude to the girl since she was only being polite and making conversation.

Kai met her look for a moment before sighing and looking at the girl. "Why are you here?"

The girl studied him and something in her expression changed. It was no longer friendly and easy but almost...angry? No, maybe she was simply annoyed by Kai's tone, Hilary mused. Kai tended to annoy people easily, though it was certainly refreshing to see a girl who didn't drool over Kai's face –it wasn't a secret that Kai was a very good looking boy/young man- and because the girl was studying Kai suspiciously from under her dark bangs, she went up in Hilary's estimation. "To collect my dad, his flight should be coming in soon."

"Do you live in the city?" Hilary asked, drawing the girls' attention away from Kai.

"Ah no, my dad does but I live on the other side of the country," A smile began to curve her lips warmly and her eyes –almost ochre in colour- lit up brightly, "in a place called Donegal. If you guys have time to visit during your trip, I'd advise you to visit the west of Ireland. Belfast is a city of culture but the west of Ireland gives you an idea what the country looked like before the factories and cars."

Hilary found herself smiling in response. "Actually that sounds like a good idea." She looked to her companions, wondering if any of them would be interested in going for a trip. From the brochure she'd procured, there were a lot of places that interested her. Such as the Blarney Stone and Croagh Patrick and the Burren and Bantry Bay. All of the pictures she'd seen of the rolling hills and blue mountains, bubbling brooks and thatched cottages framed by stone walls had painted such a picturesque view that she couldn't imagine visiting the country and just staying in the city.

"We're here to play, Hils, not sightsee!" Tyson pointed out.

"I suppose." She sighed softly.

"Well if you guys have a day off, you should really go. It's not that far really." The girl said with a smile but there was a sense of uneasiness to it and suddenly, with a quick look at her stoic companion, Hilary could understand why. She sidled over to Kai and elbowed him subtly before sending him a dark look. Why did he have to be so rude? He was representing Japan and he wasn't doing such a good job of it! It was bad enough that she had to cope with Tyson and Daichi but Kai as well?!

"Anyways, if you guys are looking for a taxi..." She trailed off with a frown and looked down the line past the buses. "They're down there but if you wait a little longer, that bus right there should be leaving," She pointed to the first of the long buses behind the short one. "And then that bus will move forward and the taxi's will move a little closer but if you guys are in a hurry to go, I could head down and get two taxis for you. It'll save you guys from getting wet and catching a cold."

Hilary took a moment to absorb everything the girl had said. Despite being quite good with English, the girl did tend to speak a bit quickly for her liking. She looked helplessly to Kai again, happy to let him take charge even though he wasn't a member of the team. Whenever Hitoshi wasn't around, Kai was the unofficial leader.

Kai looked the newcomer over before finally nodding. If she wanted to get wet, it was no skin of his nose.

"Ok then, be back in a sec." The girl called back, jogging down the street forgetting to pull up her hood as she stepped out from under the shelter.

"She seems nice." Max mused.

"If everyone in Ireland is that friendly then we should have a good time." Rei added with a small smile only for his brow to furrow at Tyson's stance and pout.

"She didn't even recognize me!" Tyson finally blurted out. "It was as if she had no idea who I am!"

"Haha! That doesn't surprise me in the slightest! Everyone knows that this is _my_ year!" Daichi proclaimed loudly earning a hard punch to the head from the current world champ. Stars exploded in his vision and he wobbled precariously, collapsing against Kenny who whimpered and held his palm pilot protectively close to his chest.

Hilary stared at Tyson for a moment before rolling her hazel eyes to the sky. "Maybe she doesn't watch Beyblading. I know it's impossible for you to understand Tyson, but the world does not revolve around you and your blade."

Whatever Tyson had been about to say was cut off when a car, with the sign 'taxi' on its roof, pulled up past the buses and came to a halt beside them followed by a second one. The drivers' door opened and a man stepped out. "Want to put your stuff into the boot there fella's?"

"Ok, we'll split into three-"

"Hey, you're not the boss of us Hilary. I say we... split into- Kai where are you going?" Hilary smirked as Tyson threw his hands into the air and watched the tall, two toned bluenette climb into the backseat of the second car after having placed his bags in the boot. Rei offered Tyson a 'what-can-you-do?' look, before sliding in beside Kai.

"Tyson and I will go with Kai and Rei," Hilary decided as Kenny lugged his large bag to the boot and Max took a seat beside Daichi. She trusted Kenny and Max to look after Daichi and he was much more likely to behave himself in their company than in hers or Tyson's. Ignoring Tyson's grumbling, she led the way to the second taxi and handed her bag to the taxi driver.

"Hey, thanks for the taxis!"

She looked over her shoulder as she watched the girl stop just before she entered the airport to respond to Tyson.

"No problem." She called back, shoving her hands into her front pockets of her hoody. "Hope you have a nice stay."

"Uh, yeah. My name's Tyson Granger by the way!"

"Tyson quit flirting and get in." Kai barked out gruffly.

Tyson blushed hotly in embarrassment before climbing into the passenger seat with a grumble, "Dude you're so embarrassing. I was only asking her name."

"Travel Lodge." Kai ordered. "I'll be glad to get back to my old team. Hilary, come on."

Hilary sighed out a breath before turning to the girl. "Thank you."

"Really, it was no problem."

Hilary slid into the backseat of the car just in time to hear Tyson's taunt to Kai.

"Admit it Kai, you miss us."

"Shut up Tyson."

"Hey Tyson, if you don't leave Kai alone, he'll probably throw you out of the taxi." Rei chuckled.

"He wouldn't do that, would you Kai? Kai? Kai, I don't like that look you're giving me."

Hilary sighed heavily and pulled her MP3 from her pocket and put the earphones over her ears and allowed the English language file she'd downloaded to drown out the voices of her companions. Somehow, she didn't think Ireland was ready for the Bladebreakers.

* * *

As the taxis pulled away from the curb, the girl watched them leave with a grim expression. She leaned back against the glass window beside the automatic door, paying no attention to the door that was going crazy beside her, opening and closing recklessly.

"You know, for people who are about to kill millions of people, they don't seem that evil." She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Well no matter, I still have to do what I can to stop them. Pity I didn't find out where they're staying, but I'm sure that'll appear in the newspaper before long..."

She rested her head back against the window, her hair soaking up the drops of water but she didn't mind. "I know, I know, I have to work fast. Don't worry your pretty little head; I'm well aware of what's at stake." She pushed back onto her feet and turned into the airport, keeping her head down as she muttered under her breath. "The other teams should be coming soon too, let's go see what _they're_ like."

* * *

Whatever Ian Paplov had been expecting of Ireland, he pretty much got. Grey skies surrounded the plane he sat in, working diligently on his laptop and beneath them, -far beneath them thankfully- was a patchwork of multicoloured square fields with a smattering of grey blotches he assumed were those quaint little villages he'd read about. He wasn't particularly interested in Ireland but he figured all good journalists did their research and since he was the unofficial reporter for the Blitzkrieg boys, he might as well get in the right frame of mind. A lot of things could be said about Ian, but when he put his mind to something, he expected to excel at it.

He leaned closer to the window to take another peek and was roughly shoved back into his seat by a disgruntled Bryan Kuznetsov. He rolled his eyes at the burly boy before turning his attention back to the screen before him. He knew better than to get annoyed with Bryan, especially when Bryan was sleepy –possibly drugged- and in an airplane. It was a well kept secret that Bryan –despite being in possession of a flying bitbeast or maybe because of it- hated to travel in airplanes. It made him more grumpy that usual. No wonder Tala and Spencer had deigned to sit on the other side of the plane.

"So is Kai meeting us at the hotel or what?" he asked, deleting what he'd just written. Writing blogs was hard. He wanted to capture the excitement of going to Ireland for the World Championships but with the airplane being so cluttered with people and with the children crying around him and the bad movie it was just hard to create the right atmosphere.

"I told you he was."

"But why didn't he get a flight with us?" Should that be in italics? Maybe since the emphasis was more on the second word than the third. He directed the cursor back to the word he wanted to highlight and formatted it before frowning. Then again, it just didn't look right like that.

Tala sighed loudly and shifted his attention to the shorter boy beside him. "Because Ian, he was already in Japan visiting Tyson, it just made more sense for him to get a plane with them."

"He was supposed to be back last Friday." Ian muttered, feeling just a little petulant. Kai was their teammate but he seemed to spend just as much time with the Bladebreakers than he did with the Blitzkrieg boys. It was kind of irritating considering Tala tended to be just a little more arrogant when Kai wasn't around to put him in his place.

"So he extended his trip," Tala replied. "He has no obligation to us, we're just his team, remember?"

Ian curled his lip. Yeah, just his team. If Kai wanted to be a member of the Bladebreakers so much, why didn't he just rejoin them? If he did, Ian would be able to become a playing member of the Blitzkrieg boys instead of their tag along PR guy which was what he felt like half the time. He'd taken up the idea after he had missed out on the previous tournament –well there had been some other trouble to, namely a little problem with summer detention for something he still swore he hadn't done– so that he could come along this time without the BBA objecting. As he saw it, if the midget geek from the Bladebreakers could tag along with nothing but a laptop to his name, so could Ian. He wasn't really sure what the midget geek with the toupee and large glasses did for the Bladebreakers, but it couldn't be too important. He certainly wasn't a beyblader, that's for sure.

He pulled up a second window on his screen and studied the folders arranged there. He'd need to form another for the photos from Ireland. It was surprising how popular his little site had become since it had been formed just two months ago when he'd had the idea. He'd been blogging on and off as a form of therapy –apparently his 'psychologist' believed he had 'anger problems' and needed a safer outlet rather than blowing things up. Ian thought she needed a hobby or to get laid but either way, the blogging had worked out. He could rant and rave about his teammates and they'd never know because it was about as private as you could get on the worldwide web. But the site was a stroke of pure genius on his part, if he did say so himself. Who knew the Blitzkrieg boys would be so popular amongst the female body of the world? Every time he posted a new picture of them, he gained ten new fans and the money began to pour in. Again, he'd been surprised by how many people wanted to donate to the 'management of his site'.

"Kai will be there." Spencer Petrov suddenly spoke up gaining two surprised looks. Spencer was the oldest member of their team and had a tendency to just remain quiet; usually a look or two was enough to convey what he meant. While Tala was the leader, they often deferred to Spencer's experience on certain things. He may just look like the brawn to the outside observer but Spencer was actually the brains of their little group when it came to the mechanics of things, he just played 'stupid' to keep people from bothering him. Spencer absolutely hated people's attention on him, hence when he bladed, he liked to get things over and done with.

"I'm sure he will." Tala murmured and Ian raised a brow, looking past the red head to gain Spencer's opinion on Tala's odd attitude. According to Tala, there was no love lost between him and Kai. They were simply teammates but he'd once heard Tala and Bryan talking about their shared past with Kai, when they'd lived in the abbey and had been friends. So was it hurt pride that made him block out that old friendship when he spoke of Kai? Did he think Kai would rather be friends with the Bladebreakers than with him? Ian pondered that for a moment and then dismissed the thought. It didn't bother him what Tala thought or felt as long as it didn't affect the game outcome or him.

"Are we nearly there yet?" He demanded, shoving his laptop closed as it didn't seem as though he'd be getting any work done on his site.

"Looks like it." Bryan stated quietly, peering out the window and shoving Ian back as the boy tried to gain another look.

"Window hogger." Ian muttered grumpily, kicking out his feet in front of him and gaining a dark look from the woman in front of him. He simply smiled widely at her garnering a sneer in response. "Tch." He _hated_ people.

"Behave Ian." Tala warned; closing his eyes and leaning his head back just as the light for the seatbelt came on.

Ian inwardly cheered as he tugged the strap over his waist. About time, it seemed as though they'd been flying forever. Was Tyson already down there, he wondered and if he was, was he nervous about the match? Seriously, it had to be about time that Tyson lost. The guy had been winning every World Championship for the past couple of years despite the odds being stacked against him, surely it was time for someone else to take the forecourt and be the hero. Ian snickered; maybe he'd be the hero for a change and have a fan-site dedicated solely to him!

"What are you laughing at?" Bryan demanded, irked that his large fingers couldn't seem to fix the clasp properly on the seatbelt.

"Hah, nothing. Want me to do that for you?" Ian offered, taking the clasp when Bryan simply grunted and looked out the window. Ian cheerfully slotted the clip into its holder and turned his attention to the screen over head. "I bet there are going to be loads of teams there this year." He mused; then inspiration lit up his eyes. "Think there are any Irish teams?"

"Not that I've heard." Tala replied through a yawn. "All I know is that I want a rematch against Garland."

Ian quirked his purple brows over garnet eyes before wrinkling his nose. "Yeah I don't think that's such a good idea. Don't want you ending up in hospital again. You're a lousy patient."

"Nurse Ian." Bryan taunted and the other three snickered.

Ian flushed darkly. "Yeah, well see if I look after any of you ever again. You can all drop dead if that's the thanks I get."

"You almost killed me, you idiot."

"I didn't know you'd already taken your prescription, did I? Usually we have to force medication down your throat-"

"Or crush it into his food." Spencer gallantly tried to hide his smile, he really did.

"Nurse Ian, the overdoser!" Tala cackled causing a fresh round of laughter to burst from the scary looking boys. A few passengers eyed them uneasily while a child began to cry in the back.

Ian glared at his team darkly. "Fine, go battle Garland; I hope you get a scar on your pretty face!"

That shut Tala up quickly and Ian snickered under the venomous look the pretty-boy red head sent him. "Uh, so, uh, who else do you think will end up in hospital? I mean Bryan sent China boy to hospital and then Tala... yeah, so this year, any bets?"

"Ian," Spencer said his name quietly but the order was loud and clear. He was being tactless again.

"I'm only joking. Jeez. I personally think it's about time Granger suffered something, seriously the guy is about the clumsiest schmuck in the game and nothing ever goes wrong for him, lucky bastard."

"Ian!"

"Alright, fine. Sheesh."

"Max Tate." Bryan suddenly said and his lips twitched when Ian grinned up at him.

"Oh yeah, Blondie. Shit yeah, with mummy and daddy rushing to his rescue. Oh and the _girlfriend_."

Spencer sighed loudly but Ian just smirked.

"What about Cheng?" Tala mused. "He's a sneaky little dickhead."

"Oh yeah! That would be good." Ian agreed. "He always manages to avoid everything. He even avoided having Kai steal his damn bitbeast, 'cos I'm telling you, I didn't see that-"

He broke off as the captain began to speak overhead and the plane began to lower steadily towards the ground. The patchwork blanket of greens and gold began to rise to meet them and a flutter began to quiver in his stomach. They were finally here, finally at the world Championships again and this time he was with them and they were going to win! Nothing could stop them, they were the Blitzkrieg boys and this was their year.

_Ireland, here we come!_

* * *

**A.N.** Well I hope you guys enjoyed the first instalment. I'm really excited about this plot because it's going to be fun and action packed and I actually have a plot outline for the chapters, so they should come along quickly enough and I will fit in my other stories too, don't worry, but this one won't leave me without getting it written. The start is slow I'm afraid, but the action will pick up soon.

-


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Beyblade.

* * *

Chapter Two

Hilary had a few things that she always made certain to bring with her when she went to another country with the boys or when she went on holidays with her parents. Her iPod ranked number one on her list simply because when you spent as much time with Tyson as she did, it was a necessity to drown out his incessant ranting and his snoring – she wasn't really sure what was worse. She also liked to have a map handy for the city she was visiting because there was nothing worse than going to a country and not knowing where everything important was.

So while the boys were sleeping off their jet lag – she had, with the help of her iPod, managed to get a decent sleep even with Tyson's snoring and sleep talking – she would go down to the reception desk and get a map before she went out into the city to get her supplies for her stay. While it was probably more economical to bring things like shampoo with her, she had long ago realized that it was just unnecessary baggage. Every country sold the bare necessities, so she forewent packing toiletries and instead packed her bag with her most important things, such as a few good books, dango, and other snacks, as well as her hair-iron. Running her hand through her now sleek, wavy hair, she gave thanks for foresight.

Shooting a quick look out the window to make sure that the sun was still shining – it had cleared up five minutes after they had reached the hotel-, she grabbed her iPod off the small bedside cabinet and switched it on, checking to make sure there was plenty of battery left. She hooked the earphones around her neck and scrolled to her favourite Utada Hikaru track – choosing the English version of '_Simple and Clean_' because it felt right to be listening to English words when she was in a majority speaking English country. Though she was curious about the speaking of Irish. She'd never come into contact with that language yet and she was interested to know how that sounded.

She grabbed her bag and her room key from the small desk where her tea set sat awaiting use. She had to admit, the room wasn't exactly the most luxurious of accommodations but it suited her and the boys just fine. A large single bed with a chequered blue and white quilt, a couch, a mirror over a long desk holding a small TV, a bookcase and a wardrobe finished it off. Since they wouldn't be in the room that much, the lack of facilities didn't really bother them and it was in a great spot. Everything was within walking distance and since none of them were of age to drive, she doubted they'd be hiring any cars.

She exited the room, making sure to take her lightweight jacket off the back of the single chair in the room and closed the door behind her, making sure that it was locked before she headed for the elevator. She'd just passed by Tyson and Kenny's room – listening to the loud snoring that reverberated against the door- when the door behind her, opposite her own, creaked opened quietly. She glanced over her shoulder and raised a brow at Kai, standing in the small gap in a pair of loose tracksuit bottoms and a black wife beater. His hair was mussed and his eyes were bleary from sleep but startlingly alert as they ran over her.

"You leaving?"

"I'm just going to have a look around and get a few things before we meet with Mr. Dickinson, I'll be back before he arrives but if I'm not, you'll take notes, right?"

He nodded curtly but she didn't take offense. She'd long ago learnt that Kai didn't say something unless he felt he needed to but when he did say something, it was usually profound and had the right effect to motivate the team. It was just a pity that he wouldn't be part of their team this year, but he had still insisted on rooming with Rei, declaring that Tala and Ian shared as did Bryan and Spencer. This, of course, provoked a few indecent comments from their youngest member which resulted in a good bop to the head for his insolence.

"Do you need me to get anything for you?"

"I'm fine."

"Chocolate?" She caught the flicker of interest in his mahogany eyes before he quickly averted them.

"Hn, don't bother." He snorted softly before giving a dismissive wave of his hand and returning to his room.

She shook her head in amused exasperation. He really was the most bizarre boy. Sometimes she wondered if Tyson and Kai would have been friends if they hadn't been on the same team. Maybe not, they were very different boys; then again, did it matter? They were friends, teammates, and rivals with a healthy dose of respect for them. Beyblade brought them together, the same way it had brought her to them. She doubted she would be in Ireland if she hadn't befriended Tyson. Sure they bickered but, really he needed someone to watch over him and Grandpa Granger had charged her with that task.

She approached the elevator and entered as the doors slid open. It was one of the few pleasures she indulged in when she was staying in a hotel since getting in one with the boys around was never a good idea. Cramped spaces didn't work with her boys, certainly not with Tyson, Daichi and Max, all of whom had boundless energy. Stairs were just a more feasible option with them since they could never stand still for two minutes. The few times that Kai took the elevator for an easier trip, the two hot heads decided to race him down and when they won –though Kai claimed the lift had to stop to let out an old lady with a walking stick- they'd spent about twenty minutes gloating.

Gravity pulled her down and her stomach swooped with the sensation. It didn't take long for the doors to slide open and she was suddenly assaulted by the loud noise of chattering voices.

"I thought you said people in Ireland spoke English, I didn't understand a word that woman was saying."

"Michael." A female voice Hilary recognized chastised the boy softly. A smile curved her lips as she stepped out of the elevator and almost into the middle of the PBB Allstarz as they stood in the lobby surrounded by duffle bags and small suitcases. "First of all, that's prejudiced," the small orange haired, only female member of their team lectured, "Second of all, she's technically Northern Irish. Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are two separate countries with two different parliaments and thirdly, it's called an accent. _I _understood her perfectly."

"Northern Ireland, Ireland, it's the same thing." The cocky blonde captain defended his claim.

"Oh, no it's not. That's like saying South America and North America are the same or South Korea and North Korea are the same."

"They're both Korea."

Emily York sighed loudly with a roll of her eyes while two of her three other companions chuckled at the conversation. The third member of the team stood quietly to the side, arms folded over his large chest as he glared down at the tiled floor. He obviously wasn't having too much fun and Hilary couldn't blame him. The other four had been a team for quite a while, Rick on the other hand had just joined the PPB the year before and he was probably missing his old partner, not that he'd ever admit it, she mused.

"Hey Emily," She called out, sensing a break in the argument between the petite red head and the arrogant blond.

"Oh, good afternoon Hilary-san." The girl stated bowing respectfully; this of course drew a baffled look from her blond teammate.

"Emily, what are you doing?"

"I'm showing some respect. The Japanese culture is built upon respect-"

"Have you seen her teammates? There's Tyson who inhales everything in sight, if he could eat beyblades he would. Kai hates the world and the day he's civil is the day the apocalypse has come and that red haired brat... don't even get me started on how rude that small fry is."

Hilary bit her tongue. After all, she didn't know much about the PBB guys, though she figured they were friends of the Bladebreakers –they were after all, Max's ex-teammates.

"Michael! Did you even listen to Judy on the plane? We are here to represent America. Trying to promote a good image for beybladers everywhere and you're ruining it by being rude!" She turned back to Hilary and the scowl melted from her face. "I apologize on Michael's behalf Hilary-san-"

"Oh please, Emily. Just call me Hilary. Suffix's can be confusing." She joked, sending Michael a nervous glance. Somehow she didn't remember him being quite so outspoken. "How was your trip?"

"Long, but I imagine yours was longer."

"It was so boring and they had this crappy children's film on. It bored me to tears-"

"Thank you, Michael; I'm sure Hilary is absolutely riveted to hear your thoughts on travelling in coach. Now, here, take your keys and head up to your rooms. Emily, you'll be sharing with me."

Every time Hilary saw Judy Tate she felt awed by the young woman's beauty. With her blonde shoulder length hair and vivid blue eyes, she looked nothing like the mothers she encountered in Japan. And she was intelligent too, a modern woman who did incredibly important work for Beyblading in America. It wasn't hard for Hilary to admire her. She was just so in control and she was exactly the type of woman Hilary wanted to grow up to be like. The fact that she had given birth, and helped raise Max to be the young man he was, just added to that admiration for Hilary. She proved that you could be a successful business woman and a mother too.

"Hello Hilary."

Clasping her fingers behind her back, she smiled up at the woman she admired so much. "Hello, Mrs. Tate. How are you?"

"I'm well Hilary, and you can call me Judy."

"Yeah everyone calls her Judy... but on the weekends-"

"MICHAEL!"

Steve and Eddie snickered before quickly sobering when the older woman shot them belligerent looks.

"Steve, you are here in a spectator capacity, I don't need to keep you here. I can very well send you back to America on the next plane if you don't behave. Now, go to your rooms. You need to rest up before you meet Mr. Dickinson this evening before dinner."

"Should be after dinner, otherwise Tyson won't be able to concentrate."

"Oh pot, kettle, black." Emily retorted, shooting the green haired Steve a dark look. Hilary didn't recognize him, but she had heard of him from her teammates and from Emily too. The reason he hadn't been playing last year had been due to a leg injury.

"Ok, settle down, guys." Judy advised, but there was a warning edge to her voice. "Are you heading out Hilary?"

"I just want to get a look around the city, see what amenities are available near hand." She informed the manager of the PBB Allstarz.

"Well have fun and be careful. This city is as dangerous as any other, so don't go too far and keep your cell phone on, but I'm sure you know that already."

"Of course."

"And stay out of dark alley ways." Emily added.

Hilary nodded and stepped back to allow the group to enter the lift, secretly glad that she didn't have to put up with such guys on her team. Sure, Tyson was a loudmouth and Daichi could be a handful but she couldn't imagine how Emily dealt with Michael's egotism and Steve was just scary, even Rick's attitude could be worrisome. Eddie seemed ok though but she'd rather deal with her team than the PPB team any day.

As the doors slid closed, she headed to the receptionist desk, glancing around the lobby in search of other members of the Beyblading community.

"Excuse me," She called out to the woman behind the receptionist desk.

The woman glanced up before pushing out of her chair and approaching the counter. "Yes, can I help you?"

Hilary tucked her tongue in her cheek to prevent herself from smiling. Michael was right, she was a little hard to understand but hardly as incomprehensible as the American boy had made her out to be.

"Ah, yes, do you have a map?"

"For the city? Of course, miss." She moved to a small stand and picked up a small booklet. She began to unfold it with practiced ease. "Now you are here, on Brunswick Street." The woman took a pen and placed a dot where she imagined the hotel to be positioned. Hilary leaned closer, other more important names popping out at her. Not too far away, on Donegal Square street was City Hall and then there was the Castlecourt Shopping Centre that looked to be a good fifteen minutes walk from their hotel but it could have been further. Then there was the River Lagan, a large blue stripe that wove and wound its way up the edge of the map. Her eyes scanned for the _Odyssey Complex_, the arena that would be hosting the Beyblade World Championship. A shiver of excitement travelled down her spine and raised the hairs on her neck and arms.

"Cold?" The receptionist asked pleasantly.

"Oh no. Thank you. Ah, where's the Odyssey Complex?"

The receptionist traced the river with her pen and tapped a small brown splotch. "There you go. It looks farther than it is, you can get there in roughly twenty-thirty minutes walking. Now when you leave here –well you'll probably be driven there by bus, Mr. Dickinson already asked us to organize that- but if you were to walk, you would go out there, turn to your right and then go up to the end of the street and onto Howard street, here, see?" She drew her pen along the straight line representing the street. "Past the City Hall and keep going until you read Victoria Street off May Street. Now up Victoria Street and on up Oxford Street you'll go until you read the Queen's Bridge and across that and see here, you'll take that road and just follow it along and you'll reach the Odyssey. You can't miss it."

Hilary's head swam with the directions but she mustered up a grateful smile. "Um, can I take that map with me?"

"Oh of course, love. There you go, now if you have any other questions, don't be afraid to ask. Now do you have your room key with you?" When Hilary nodded, she added, "Would you like us to keep it behind the desk for you in case you lose it?"

Hilary debated with herself –after all she was hardly going to lose something as important as her room key but still, if her bag were to be stolen- before she finally handed over her key sporting her room number. "Thanks." She murmured before she headed to the front door and stepped out onto the sunshine washed street. Her eyes took a moment to adjust as she plugged her earphones in so she could let the music wash over her.

* * *

Two hours later, her feet were aching and her hands were weighed down with bags of stuff for their stay. The culture of Belfast hadn't taken long to enthral her, as she spied the many shops and tourists passing from one shop window to another before ducking inside for a closer look. It was such a quaint mixture of traditional and modern mixed together and she was glad she would have a few days here to just have a look around so that she didn't have to rush herself. The worst thing about going to another country would be missing out on all the sights because of being too busy.

The only thing now was that she was lost. Yes, that was just a minor problem. She had found a nice park area and had sat down to try to work out where she was but even with the map it was only helpful if she knew where she was. She sighed loudly. Tyson would laugh if he found out about her predicament. Maybe she should try calling Rei. She knew he would help her out without much fuss but he would feel that it was his duty to rouse the others so they could all ride to her rescue. That was something she certainly didn't need.

She toed off her shoes to let them breathe for a moment, wriggling her toes in the cool air. Despite the hot sunshine searing against her skin, the breeze that whispered through the trees and played with her hair was fresh with just a hint of nippiness. It certainly wasn't uncomfortable since she had brought her rain jacket with her in anticipation of a change in the weather.

At least, she mused, she wasn't in a desperate rush to get back soon. It would just be nice to know where she was. Were the others waiting for her or had Tyson found someone to battle in which case it could be hours before they noticed she was missing. Thankfully Kai knew she had left but he might simply assume she had come back and had gone to her room.

Why was she even worrying? She was perfectly safe and it was still light out, it wasn't even that late. It was only twenty five minutes past five, so she was still good for another few minutes. Mr. Dickinson wouldn't want to see them till six and even if she didn't make it in time, Kai would be able to relate everything to her.

She sighed and got to her feet. Time to ask someone for directions, she decided, slipping on her shoes and getting to her feet. She would have to soak her feet in hot water when she got back to her room. A familiar sound caught her attention and her stomach swooped as she looked around her, a smile curving her lips when she caught sight of a group of young boys gathered around a beydish shouting encouragement as two young boys –around ten she estimated- battled against a taller boy roughly around her own age, maybe a year older. She picked up her pace to have a quick look just as the older boys beyblade smashed into his opponents' blade and sent it hurtling into his teammates. The latter beyblade left the dish at an alarming rate and flew straight into a tree with a sickening crunch of parts but not happy with that, the older boy's blade chased down the wobbling remainder.

"Go Nuada!" Hilary slowed to a walk and tilted her head up to look at the dark grey creature rising from the blades glowing centre. The smile fell from her lips as she realized what the boy was about to do. The creature, some strange mutated being, lifted its large arm and brought down its scythe-like hand.

"NO!" She shouted racing forward. "You can't do that, it's against official BBA rules!"

The creature moved its head to look at her and a smirk seemed to curve its lips before the narrow hand came down and she realized it wasn't the hand but the weapon the creature's hand held onto. The beyblade shuddered under the impact and fell into its side, a large slice appearing through its attack ring. It gaped, an ugly mouth carved into the shiny turquoise surface as the young child shouted. Another gash appeared and she realized the boys' bitbeast wasn't finished with the defenceless blade.

"It's not spinning anymore, it's over. Stop attacking it." She snapped, rounding the dish towards the older boy. "Official BBA rules state that once a beyblade has stopped spinning, you can no longer attack it. Call off your bitbeast, you won." A pathetic win but a win none-the-less.

The boy didn't seem to hear and Hilary nearly tore her hair out in frustration as the others continued to goad the older boy on while the child bawled its eyes out. She scowled darkly and riding on adrenaline, she marched up to the beydish and reached it, yanking out the beyblade and just narrowly missing getting her fingers attacked by the charcoal grey beyblade. She snarled at the older boy, her chestnut brown eyes flashing. She absolutely detested bladers who battled so dishonourably. Maybe it was because she had learnt of Beyblading through Tyson, someone who respected honour when it came to battling.

She turned to the crying boy and sighed. "Here's your beyblade."

"It's b-br-broken."

Well yes, it was. "Yes, but you can get it fixed." She offered helplessly.

If she was at home and this happened she would simply tell the boy to go to the hobby shop where Max's father worked. But since she was a stranger here, she didn't exactly know where the hobby shop was yet. She hadn't found it on her travels. All she had come across was the Arena and a few places that might interest the boys for their days off as well as the places they needed to know about, such as bus stops and taxi ranks.

"What would you know?!" the boy demanded. "You're just a girl!"

She reared back, blinking in shock as the boy wiped his eyes and ran off with his friends quickly following him. Well that was... rude. She frowned and turned back to the blader who was picking his blade out of the dish. Sensing her gaze, he turned to her with a sneer.

"So who the fuck are you, coming and interfering in my match? It had shit all to do with you, you little bitch."

She folded her arms, uncomfortable with his language and the menace rolling off him in oily waves. Her stomach churned nauseously and a cold sweat broke out along her back as she felt the urge to back away from him but she had faced worse than him. Of course, she'd never been on her own when she had but still, she wasn't a coward. Boys thought they could get away with so much just because she was female. Well she was not just any girls; she was Hilary Tachibana of the Bladebreakers.

"I interfered in your match because you were cheating and disobeying all the rules of Beyblading."

"Oh and I suppose you know all the rules, do you? Well let me tell you this girly, I don't give a fuck about the rules. I can do whatever I damn well please, so go back to your own country you bloody chink!"

Shock numbed her, her brain freezing and preventing any words from spilling from her lips. She was afraid that if she could speak, all that would escape would be babbling incoherency. She'd never been spoken to so rudely before and certainly not by another beyblader. She had met many unsociable ones and some very rude ones in her time but they had never targeted her and they'd never made any prejudicial comment about her race before either.

"Actually, I'm Japanese." She blurted out, hating the sadistic amusement lurking in his eyes. She hoped; she violently hoped that he entered the competition so her boys could tear him to pieces. Wouldn't that just serve him right?!

"Like I give a fuck where you're from. You're not Irish, so why the fuck are you here? Go home."

"I'm here for the tournament, idiot!"

He snorted, with scornful amusement. "You're not a blader. I'd know. You don't look like a blader, you're too stupid and weak looking."

She bit her tongue from saying anything about the boys. Just let him be surprised. She'd enjoy the look of shock on his face when he realized just who her friends were and what they were capable of doing to him. She swallowed thickly, wishing he would just leave so she could go back to the hotel. She certainly didn't feel comfortable walking away from him. Something about him just radiated barely controlled violence and it scared her.

"Hilary!"

She jolted and the boy made a sound of disgust, as a figure jogged through the park towards her. For one silly moment, she had thought it might have been Mariah or Emily, the voice belonging to a female but as it came closer, she faintly recognized the girl as the one from the airport. How strange to run into twice on the same day.

"Uh hey." She greeted, wondering if it was naive that she felt better having another person with this boy here.

"How are you?" The girl – what was her name? – asked, with a warm smile but her eyes were nervously flicking towards the boy.

Hilary tried to muster up a smile in response but her muscles felt shaky and useless. "I'm good. You?"

"Good," She turned to the boy and tilted her head. "Hi, I'm Amber Benson, are you a friend of Hilly's?"

Hilary blinked. Despite the friendly greeting, the girl –_Amber_ – sounded anything but. In fact there seemed to be an edginess to her warm, friendly words; like silk covered steel.

The boy snorted and with a shake of his head he began to stalk away. "Better be careful chink."

Hilary hissed under her breath. "What a vile boy."

"Yeah you two didn't exactly seem to be very intimate," Amber stated with a rueful smile, before her brows furrowed. "Chink? Isn't that for Chinese people?"

"I guess so. It's very rude and racist."

"Ah yeah, you'll get that in Ireland. For every ten people who are nice and friendly, you'll get one rude person."

"I got two in ten minutes." Hilary sulked.

Amber grinned before sobering. "He seemed really cruel though, what did you do to him? Apart from looking different, I mean."

"Nothing. I just interrupted a beyblade match because he was breaking the official BBA rules by using his bitbeast on a beyblade that was clearly defeated. It was an unnecessary and violent attack and on a ten year old boy. A very rude ten year old boy."

"Uh, bitbeast? BBA?" She dismissed the question with a wave of her hand. "Never mind, I'll just take your word for it."

"So uh, Amber, right?"

"Yup, I'm Amber. Pleased to meet you, which sounds awfully formal, but yeah, hi."

"Yes, nice to meet you too." Hilary replied with a respectful bow of her head. "So Amber, what were you... doing here?"

"Here? Oh, right. I was taking a shortcut through the park to get to a nice little Chinese, I know. I'm not exactly the greatest cook so I tend to eat out a lot."

"What about your father, you said you were meeting him at the airport?"

"Oh he can't cook either. Unless it's potatoes. He's quite good at potatoes," She mused, making a face. "But, yeah, he's working late tonight, in the office. He's a lawyer."

Hilary frowned. "Sorry can you repeat that? You... talk too fast. I can't keep up."

Amber gaped before flushing. "Oh, sorry," She yelped. "I have a terrible problem with speaking slowly."

"Oh it's not just you, all Irish people speak fast and I can't always understand."

"Not surprising. Lots of fast talking, lots of different accents. I get that but you speak English really well, very fluent."

"Thank you. So you saw me and came over?"

"Yeah, I wasn't going to but then you didn't look comfortable, so I thought I'd come over. I guess you think I'm very nosy. I just came up to you in the airport and –" Hilary broke her off with a motion to slow down making the girl chuckle sheepishly, "Sorry. It just, it must seem strange to you. I assure you, it's just a coincidence. You all looked so afraid of the weather."

Hilary ran a hand self consciously through her hair. "Hai, it was very wet."

"Well from the weather forecast it's supposed to stay sunny until the beginning of next week, so you must have brought the sunshine with you. Oh, did you want to go this way?"

Startled, Hilary looked around her. Without realizing it, she had started to follow the petite black haired girl, now clad in jeans and a black t-shirt with her hoodie tied around her waist, towards the edge of the park. "Um ... I have to go back to my hotel soon but... I don't know where I am."

"Well, where's your hotel? I can walk you there if it's close. If you want." She trailed off, biting her lip.

Hilary pondered that. Well she didn't seem like a psycho fangirl, despite her popping up in the least likely of places but she supposed Belfast wasn't that large so it could be purely coincidence that they could run into each other. So it shouldn't be too bad letting her guide her back to the hotel and she'd feel safer, goodness knows if that boy was still following her. Something about him just gave her the heebie-jeebies.

"Well... yes, that would be kind of you."

"Hey, I don't mind and I don't have anything better to do. So what's your hotel called?"

"It's the... Tra-vel Lodge?" She glanced around herself, looking at the cars that rolled slowly by, approaching traffic lights, crimson coloured for stop while little green men beckoned women with strollers and teenagers on bikes.

"Travel lodge, right, well if you- Hold on, do you have a map? That might make things easier for you, so you can find your way again."

Hilary nodded gratefully, taking out her map and handing it to the girl who struggled with unfolding the large thing. With a sigh, Hilary took it from her and arranged it into a neat square that showed the most of the city.

"Clever," Amber praised. "Alright, well we're here. See, College Square, and now we'll go down this street," she trailed her finger nail down the street, "and then... well there's Great Victoria Street and my Chinese –which if you're ever hungry, you should definitely go to. It does really good food and you can be sure you won't be eating badger meat," She looked up and was met with Hilary's blank face, she chuckled weakly, waving her hands dismissively, "Oh sorry, forget I said that. Anyway you must be on Brunswick street and that's here, so we'll go down here and across Howard St. and then down Brunswick, ok?"

"If you are sure you do not mind."

"What? No, of course I don't." There was a slight flare of annoyance in the girls voice that made Hilary quirk a brow. "No, see 'cause I can just go around the corner and I'm at the Chinese. See? So come on, let's go before your boys can worry? Where are they anyway?"

"Oh they are sleeping. I said I would go out and get a few things."

Amber nodded before leading Hilary down the street. "So what are you, like are you a member of your team? Is there a team? I'm sorry, I don't know anything Beyblading."

Hilary laughed. "It's a new sport. A lot of young people all over the world are really enjoying it and some are very talented. My friend Tyson, the big mouth, he's the world champion, the best of the best."

"Seriously? _World_ Champion? As in he battled, or played, other people from other countries and won?"

"Exactly."

"Wow. That's... impressive."

Hilary shrugged elegantly. It wasn't really a big deal to her. Tyson was just Tyson. Being friends with him meant she got to travel the world a lot and meet interesting people but for the most part, it simply meant making sure he went to class and didn't fall asleep during lessons and did his classroom chores instead of constantly trying to skip out on them.

"So what about the other boys? I mean there's Tyson, and then there's the pretty one with the black hair-"

"Rei." Hilary told her and wondered if she should be warning Mariah that an Irish girl she'd just met though Rei was pretty.

"Right. And then there's the blond guy."

"Max."

"Max... is he American? I thought I heard an American accent but-"

"Yes, he's American but he spends his time living in America and Japan."

Amber frowned. "Ok. And the red head, little fella."

"Daichi."

"Dai-chee, right. The guy with the glasses?"

"That's Kenny."

"Kenny? Ok, yeah, he looks like a Kenny. That's a pretty interesting group of friends you have Hilary."

Hilary found herself wondering if the girl had forgotten Kai on purpose. Or maybe she knew that Kai wasn't really a member of their team anymore... maybe she was a spy. But sending a sidelong look at the petite girl, Hilary found she couldn't bring herself to believe that. Amber seemed completely oblivious to the world of Beyblading but despite the questions, she got the sense that Amber didn't really care much about the sport. She was almost disdainful of it.

"So does everyone play or what?"

"Four people on a team. That's Tyson, Rei, Daichi and Max. Kenny and I provide the support, coaching and Kenny's a genius at fixing things. Why do you ask?"

Amber gaped at her then shrugged. "I'm curious. Everyone's making a big deal of this sport and to be honest, I don't see what the fuss is about. Spinning tops, I mean, all they do is spin. I don't see how that can become a sport that has a world championship. Besides, I like Ireland how it is."

What a strange comment, Hilary mused. "Well we're only here for the tournament and then we'll be gone home again. I actually can understand your confusion. I never played and it was only after I started to attend Tyson's practices that I began to understand the sport. You should come sometime, see them practicing and maybe that way, you'll get to like it."

"Yeah, that would be... fun." Amber stated with a bob of her head. "Ok, we cross here and walk down that street."

Hilary followed at her side. There was something oddly curious about this girl but she couldn't put her finger on it. The street they were approaching began to look familiar to her and she breathed a sigh of relief. At least Amber had guided her true and she'd feel safe when she was back with her boys. It was unbelievable just how nervous she'd been even with Amber's company though the conversation had served as a nice distraction.

A familiar figure striding down the opposite street caught her attention and a smile spilt over her features. "Kai!"

"Oh brother," her petite companion groaned with a roll of her eyes. When she caught Hilary's dry look, she flushed sheepishly. "Oh sorry but he's kind of rude."

"That's just Kai's nature. He takes a while to warm up to people."

"Yeah I can imagine, considering his body temperature must register at 100 below freezing."

"You shouldn't judge him when you don't know him."

Amber seemed to struggle internally before nodding with a bright and obviously fake smile. "You're right."

Kai hailed her by raising his hand and then crossed the street, his eyes flicking to Amber before he completely tuned her out. Hilary inwardly sighed. Oh she just knew these two wouldn't get along. "You're late."

"I know. I got lost and Amber was just showing me the way home."

"Hn. Come on, Dickinson wants to see us soon."

"Oh don't mind me; I'll just go get my Chinese." Amber muttered. "I'll see you around Hilary."

Hilary watched her traipse down the street, weaving in and out of the pedestrians before shooting Kai a disapproving look. He didn't seem to pay it any attention as he buried his hands in his pockets and shortened his pace so that she wouldn't get left behind as they approached the hotel. "Were you guys worried?"

"Hn. Just keep close by in future."

"I will." She sighed when he turned his gaze upon her. "I ran into a... he wasn't very nice. Amber came and rescued me. I don't remember telling her my name though..."

"Hn. Keep an eye on her."

"You think she's a rival, Kai?"

Kai snorted, his lips twisting sardonically. "With those arms, no."

She grinned. "She's kind of scrawny, I'll agree but she's nice. At least, when she's not putting on that fake smile. I'm not stupid, it's obvious that she's hiding something and she's hiding it badly. But I don't think she's a rival. It's more that she's studying us."

"Watch her Hilary and don't let your guard down. We don't know what Ireland has to offer in terms of Beyblading so keep your guard up."

She nodded quickly and slipped in the hotel door in front of him before heading to the elevator to get cleaned up.

* * *

Ian turned the corner muttering under his breath. Tala was going to pay for stealing his bed. He'd get his revenge in the most beautifully despicable way. Maybe post some naked photos on the internet. It wouldn't be hard to get them. Tala was such an exhibitionist. He was always parading around their rooms in a towel or boxers. Even in the frigid Russian winter, Tala would barely wrap up. He sneered. That was such a typical Tala thing, it pissed him off.

He shoved his hands in his pocket and hunched his shoulders. What was with this country anyway? The sun was shining and it wasn't even warm. Sucky country. It was too green. The people were obnoxious and the girls weren't even pretty.

"Well, she seems nice. Possibly an opening into their little team. What do you think?"

Ian blinked. Speaking of Irish girls, he mused, staring at the figure pressed against the wall of the alley way he was walking through. It was supposed to be a shortcut but people seemed to be avoiding it. Given the smell and the damp boxes of cardboard laid against the red brick buildings stained with water, it was understandable. He frowned at her. Who was she talking to?"

"Oh piss off, I wasn't that obvious," she muttered sullenly, pouting down at her worn shoes. "Do you know how hard it is for me to make small talk?"

No, he had no clue. He wasn't sure if the being she was glaring at had any clue either... being that they didn't actually _exist!_ A friggin' psycho. Tala would never believe it. A spark of inspiration hit Ian like a jolt and he dug carefully into his pocket for his small palm sized video recorder and pressing the record button, he lifted it to get a good picture of the black haired girl.

"Oh go cry me a river, won't you. I found out where they're staying, didn't I?" She sighed gustily.

Who were _they_? More little psychos or invisible friends? Maybe she was talking about fairies. Ireland was rife with stories about them. Maybe she could see them or something. Or they'd possessed her and fried her brain. He bit back a wicked cackle. This would look so good on his blog. He'd need an intriguing caption though.

'_Psycho Babble_!'

Perfect! That would definitely gain some interest, and the hits would rise; then the donations would flood in. He mentally clapped gleefully.

"They just don't seem so bad." The girl continued to muse, tapping her finger against her lower lip. "Maybe... well except for Rude Boy. Seriously when they were handing out manners he must have been having a whizz," she propped a hand on her hip and gazed up at the rooftop of the nearby building. "There's no other explanation for his sheer... ugh!"

Wouldn't it be embarrassing, he mused, if she was actually talking on one of those hands free phones? Though he was nearly sure she wasn't.

"I don't like him.... no I'm not being a melodramatic human teenager. Oh piss off you auld biddy; you feckin' need me remember? Look," She snarled. "You stick to your damn job and I'll do my bit, got that? I know what's at stake and I'm not going to mess up ok?"

He bit his tongue to suppress his laughter. "Who are you talking to?"

She whirled, sucking in a breath and gaped at him. "Where did you appear from?"

Ian lifted a thumb and pointed back in the direction he'd walked. Definitely not on a hands-free phone and possibly talking to invisible people. Oh he had hit gold here. "What about you? The local mental asylum?"

Her golden eyes flashed venomously at him. "Ha, says midget boy wonder."

Ooh, zing. He had worse insults from Tala when comatose. "It's hard to be insulted by someone who talks to themselves. I thought I had some weirdoes on my team but you take the cake. Next to you, they look like pillars of the community."

"Oh bite me, bite size."

"Are you talking to me or one of your invisible friends?" he grinned wickedly at the flush that was darkening her golden cheeks. Haha, this was the best bit of fun he'd had since getting off the plane. Imagine he was only just here and he'd already run into his first senile person. This day couldn't get any better.

"Are you one of them too? Ugh, typical. You're all a bunch of freaks. No wonder Ireland's going to hell in a hand basket." With a 'tsk' of disgust, she shoved her hands into her jean pockets and stalked off leaving Ian grinning after her.

"Hehe," he giggled, pulling up his camera and aiming it at his face. "A resident loony-toon free to roam the streets of Belfast captured live on camera."

He snickered as he slipped the camera into his pocket and whistling a jaunty tune, he swaggered back to the hotel, entering the door just as Tyson and that Japanese squirt got into another battle while that bossy girl yelled at them to behave. He rolled his eyes and sneered at him. At least his team could behave. They were calmly sitting at a small table in the lounge, sipping on cokes though he was pretty sure there was something extra added to them. Tala never drank a virgin drink when there was the possibility of something else.

He approached them just as a glass smashed and the girl began to shout loudly while the other boys apologized or sighed. Yep, Ian was so glad he hadn't been cursed with being born in Japan. He fingered his camera and smirked. God he was going to get a kick uploading that.

"What are you smirking about?" Tala drawled.

"None of your bees wax."

"You're still not crying over earlier are you?"

"What happened earlier?" Kai queried and Ian glanced at him in surprise.

"Why are you here?"

"He's a member of the team, Ian." Spencer gently reminded him.

"When he wants to be." Tala muttered under his breath as Ian shoved Bryan's feet off his neighbouring chair.

Kai shot him a cool look but didn't deign to reply. Ian figured that was Kai's mistake. If he rose to Tala's baiting, then Tala might more readily accept him. At least it would show Tala who was the boss. But Kai wouldn't bow down, and Tala wouldn't relinquish his leadership and so they were at a stalemate.

"Did you see anything interesting on your travels?" Spencer asked formally and Ian knew it was because of the steadily rising tension. Kai would leave in a minute. That was usually how it worked. When he did, Tala would take that as a silent victory and perk up but the scene would be repeated the next time Kai joined them. It was a sorry state of affairs and made Ian wonder just why Kai joined them. He was watching his own team now which made the hair on Ian's neck and arms stand on end.

"Nah, it's dull out there. I saw a few beybladers but they're all weak."

Kai snorted softly.

"What?!"

"Don't mind Kai, Ian. He just doesn't think you're that good a blader. Next to Kai everyone's weak, right?"

"Give it a rest Tala. I'm sure that's not what Kai was thinking." Spencer soothed but his patience was wearing thin too.

"Ah, excuse me. Everyone."

They turned in their seat to regard the stocky old man shuffling towards them, waving a cane at them to get their attention.

"Mr. D!"

"Ah great, it's the old man. Guess we're going to get another lecture." Tala muttered.

"If you could all follow me."

Ian sighed loudly and rose from his seat. "You guys go on ahead. I'm going up to my room."

"Fine." Bryan muttered while Tala just waved him off. Ian watched Tala stride off, flanked by Bryan and Spencer.

Kai on the other hand slowly rose to his feet and taking another sip of a drink, he calmly walked after them, falling into step with China Boy and saying something that made him laugh. Ian's lips curled disdainfully. How come he treated them like friends but couldn't be bothered paying any attention to his team, to his childhood friends?

Ian turned away and headed towards the elevators.

* * *

Amber sighed heavily as she stepped off the elevator and paused, wondering if her shoes were clean enough for the plush beige carpet that lined the hall. Digging into the pocket of her hoody, she plucked out her key card and stepped up to the front door. Gold numbers adorned the white door and she caught her reflection in them as she swiped the card, pushing the door open and stepping into the pristine apartment.

She untied her hoody and tossed it onto the suede couch. It was extravagant and probably expensive like many of the other things in the apartment but it didn't worry her. She plucked the remote from the nearby desk where she dropped the keys and pressing play, activated the large hi-fi system. Rock music flooded from the strategically placed speakers, and she let the guitar riffs and beat of the drums soothe along her frayed nerves.

A hand lifted to her forehead and she rubbed the spot between her eyes where the tension was gathering. A flashing red light caught her attention and with a weary sigh, she crossed to it. A simple pressing of a button and a familiar, heart breaking voice spoke.

"_James, it's Treasa. Have you seen Amber? I – I've been trying to get in contact with her but she hasn't been answering her phone. I thought... I thought she might have come to see you. Call me if you hear anything. I just- I need to know she's ok._"

She closed her eyes tightly, deleting the message. "I'm sorry, Mum. I just can't go back yet."

* * *

**A.N.** Well there you have the next chapter. I'm getting to grips with Hilary as a character and Ian just breathes for me, I love him so much. So hence the abundance of Hilary over everyone else in the story. It will slowly come together in the next chapter, I hope. I really love the plot of this... I'm just finding writing it slightly difficult so all support is welcome and appreciated. Thanks for this go to Barfly, also known as Tari (yes, she changed her name again *shakes head*) for reviewing and reminding me of this story and to Sasha for sending me that lovely email that really brightened my day. And if I don't post anything this Christmas... assume I'm dead since the pig farmers of Ireland tried to poison us all with contaminated meat. Woot... how do I get rid of pork I've consumed since September? Che, stupid people.

**Review or you'll make me feel cheap**.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters from Beyblade or the idea behind it. I do however own Amber Benson and this plot.

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If anyone has any questions, you can ask me on my **forum** which you can find on my profile. 

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Author Note: Thank you to the five people who reviewed the last chapter. This story is the one I want feedback for most since it makes me more nervous than AU does. I guess it's that I'm dealing with canon so... yeah it's scary for me. So this chapter is for: **Saye, Nexess, Fuurai, Flynn and En-en-chan.**

* * *

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**_Previously in Saving Part of the World: _**

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_"Hn. Keep an eye on her."_

_"You think she's a rival, Kai?"_

_Kai snorted, his lips twisting sardonically. "With those arms, no."_

_She grinned. "She's kind of scrawny, I'll agree but she's nice. At least, when she's not putting on that fake smile. I'm not stupid, it's obvious that she's hiding something and she's hiding it badly. But I don't think she's a rival. It's more that she's studying us."_

_"Watch her Hilary and don't let your guard down. We don't know what Ireland has to offer in terms of Beyblading so keep your guard up."_

-

_"Are you talking to me or one of your invisible friends?" he grinned wickedly at the flush that was darkening her golden cheeks. Haha, this was the best bit of fun he'd had since getting off the plane. Imagine he was only just here and he'd already run into his first senile person. This day couldn't get any better._

_"Are you one of them too? Ugh, typical. You're all a bunch of freaks. No wonder Ireland's going to hell in a hand basket." With a 'tsk' of disgust, she shoved her hands into her jean pockets and stalked off leaving Ian grinning after her._

-

_"James, it's Treasa. Have you seen Amber? I – I've been trying to get in contact with her but she hasn't been answering her phone. I thought... I thought she might have come to see you. Call me if you hear anything. I just- I need to know she's ok."_

_She closed her eyes tightly, deleting the message. "I'm sorry, Mum. I just can't go back yet."_

* * *

Chapter Three

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"Let it rip!"

The words were repeated religiously through the park as Amber quietly wandered along the heavily shaded path, through clouds of midges and dodging fast paced bugs. Music blasted from the ear-buds firmly lodged in her ears at a mind numbing volume that threatened to leave her deaf in a few years with continued abuse, but it was the only way to shut out the voice in her head. Fifteen years old and heading towards dementia, how lovely.

Her lips twisted to mouth the words that filtered through her mind, cutting off any thoughts or observations that might have crossed her mind. She was on a mission. Today was going to be a beyblade free day and as such, she had every intention of just not paying attention to the idiotic boys with their idiotic toys.

Selfish though it might be, she didn't want the fate of Ireland on her shoulders for just a little while. She had other things that deserved her attention. Besides, in a few days it wouldn't matter if Ireland ceased to exist or not.

_Selfish._

Yeah she was. She was a teenager and that gave her the right to be selfish. Who the hell deemed teenagers to be the perfect creatures to save the world anyway? Was it Marvel or DC? She was pretty sure that until the appearance of children in tights and capes, no one would have dared to leave the fate of the world to a teenager. Teenagers didn't care, right? They had more important things to do, like ditch school and score a date for the prom. That's what those real life TV shows were constantly trying to tell people but whoever was up there didn't seem to pay too much attention to that.

Her attention landed on a figure across from her and she came to an abrupt stop, almost unseating a cyclist travelling at a leisurely pace behind her. She frowned at the scene. There was Hilary, the girl she'd met at this same park yelling at another blader, and around her were her little team of boys. Amber sighed loudly and checking the path, she backed up against a tree and continued to watch them. They looked so bloody carefree, so completely ignorant of what their appearance in Ireland meant. Of course, how could they possibly know? They'd never had any trouble in any other countries so why should Ireland be any different?

She tapped the fingers of her right hand lazily against her upper left arm. To look at them, they didn't seem remotely dangerous. There was the tall, lanky, Chinese boy with the rich black hair, tied in a long tail that hung – pencil thin – down his back ending with a little lion tuft. Beside him, a stockier teen with spikes of bright blond, almost yellow hair, stood dressed in an obnoxious green and orange outfit, laughing with the short geeky boy. She hated to put labels on people but the boy with the brown mop of hair and overly thick glasses looked like a stereotypical geek. He was even perched on a stone bench with a laptop opened on his thighs, talking and running his fingers efficiently over the keys. She was curious as to what the boy intended to do with the computer while his friends were obviously about to start a match. Hadn't Hilary said he was their mechanic of sorts?

She sighed softly. She didn't know a thing about the sport and for the most part, she didn't want to know. She preferred sports that involved physical contact, a goal and some action. For her, Beyblade had none of that and yet this craze was sweeping the world at an alarming rate drawing in teenagers from all sorts of backgrounds. It probably wouldn't be as popular as football or basketball but she figured that it was popular enough to earn media coverage. Already she could spy a woman from the UTV News talking into the camera while a group of boys clustered around her, waving and sticking out their tongues at the camera.

A movement to her left caught her eye and she narrowed her eyes on the group of six gathered around the beydish. They were gaining an audience, she realized. Some of the young boys' must have realized that they were in the presence of the world champ and wanted to bask in his glory. What did that kind of worship do to a teenager? With Hollywood, that kind of attention led to drugs and crazy actions but with Beyblade not being such a big deal, she was certain the pressure wasn't as bad, but it certainly had given the boy a healthy ego, she mused, remembering his attitude at the airport. Not unfriendly, just aware of his place in the Beyblading society. It had given her a certain satisfaction to feign ignorance while alarm bells rang in her head.

Mr. Ego was bracing himself in front of the dish, arms outstretched in front of him and opposite him; the guy she had privately dubbed rude and obnoxious had taken up his own stance. They were going to battle. Tyson Granger versus Kai Hiwatari. From what she had researched, both boys were big deals in the Beyblading world. Of course, the stats the sites had reamed out at her meant nothing. But basic common sense told them that they were high on the Beybladers table. Number one and two respectively. She supposed it was something like F1 or Tennis with their little standing boards. The ideal for everyone was to reach the top but few made it. And it seemed that it was possible to be number one and your team to be lower in the table.

She watched their mouths move, forming the three most annoying words in the damn sport and then two blurs spun out at an alarming speed, hovering in the air for a moment before descending with a grind of sparks as they clashed. Then she watched as they simply stood there. This was the part of the game she just didn't get. Why did they stand there doing nothing? What on earth could they find remotely stimulating about that? Beyblade made no sense to her.

She pulled out her ear-buds and shook her head as immediately the voice chimed in with another one of its 'helpful' suggestions.

_Talk to them_.

"No thanks," she muttered. She didn't want to talk to them, especially with Mr. Arrogance there. Not to be confused with Mr. Ego who she had decided was completely harmless, Mr. Arrogance was rude, obnoxious and there was just something about him that bothered her. She couldn't even put her finger on what bugged her about him. It could have been his attitude but she knew plenty of people who were caustic and they didn't even register with her. She blanked them out because she didn't care about their thoughts. Mr. Arrogance, on the other hand, was something else completely and she wasn't sure whether she liked it or not.

_You said you would._ The voice quietly added.

"I say a lot of things; you should know that by now." Besides, today was her day off.

_You promised. It's your duty._

She squeezed her eyes shut, fisted her hands and prayed for patience. "I'm not good at just going up to people and talking. It feels unnatural."

_You did it before. _

"Under duress, remember?" She had spent a good ten minutes standing in a shop doorway being convinced that talking to them would be for the good of Ireland and all that jazz. In the end up, the voice had promised her a day of silence and since she hadn't had any silence in what felt like years, Amber had jumped at the chance. Even if it did mean she had to go over to a bunch of tourists and make a fool out of herself.

_You have to make contact with them. _

"I know." She ground out. She did know. The fate of Ireland rested on her shoulders, yada, yada, yada. It didn't mean she had to like it. "Maybe I can just catch up with Hilary some other time."

_She's not a blader_.

"She knows bladers. If I befriend her..." She trailed off as she caught sight of two snickering boys pointing at her. "Oh what are you looking at? Go buzz off, the pair of ye."

_Go over_!

Amber rolled her eyes. Fine. She'd go. In a minute.

* * *

"She's watching again."

Hilary cast a surreptitious glance around the park. Though she couldn't see the girl yet, she knew Kai was telling the truth. For some odd reason he always seemed to notice her before the rest of them. Then again, Kai had always been the perceptive one of the group; it might have been due to his wary nature.

"Again?"

Tyson caught his blade as it flashed out of the dish in a blur of colour and nodded. "She's been watching us for the past three days. I figured she might have been a fan or wanted an autograph but every time I go to approach her she runs off."

"Oh." Hilary frowned. Well, that was strange. She wouldn't have thought of Amber as shy. Each time she had encountered her, Amber had always been the one to make the first move.

"Yeah but you weren't with us, so maybe she was waiting for you," Max suggested, his own blue eyes were inconspicuously scanning the many faces gathered in the middle of the city park.

The brilliant blue sky and hot rays of sunshine had drawn out nearly the majority of the Beyblading community and then some, so picking out a face was almost an impossible task, especially since it was lunch time and the local employees had wandered out with their lunches to have a 'gander at what was going on'.

"Even when she saw you weren't with us, she remained," Kai pointed out.

Hilary bit back the urge to roll her eyes. Kai really seemed to think there was something suspicious about Amber and while Hilary agreed that the girl was obviously hiding a secret, she didn't think that Amber was a bad person. She just didn't give off that evil aura that all the other enemies they had faced exuded. Even Brooklyn with his air of calmness had given off evil vibes. And Garland? Well nothing spelt evil like a massive chest hidden under a very tight tank top.

"Maybe she thought Hilary would show up later."

Kai sent Max a look that clearly said 'you're an idiot, shut up; you don't know what you're talking about'. Honestly, Hilary admired his ability to speak through looks. If she could do that, she'd cause her vocal chords a lot less agro when snapping at Tyson.

"She might be," Max muttered but balked at another look from Kai. Rei simply shook his head and rested a reassuring hand on Max's shoulders.

"Max is right; maybe she's just looking for a friendly face. You gotta admit Kai; you're not exactly the friendliest of people."

"And Amber did say she found you rude and..." Hilary trailed off. That probably wasn't going to endear Amber to Kai in any way, shape or form. Oops.

Kai grunted and this of course, caused Tyson to grumble loudly. "Are we blading or not? Or do you all want to gossip like girls?"

Immediately Kai shoved his blade into his launcher and pulled the rip chord. "Go Dranzer!"

"Yeah that's more like it, go Dragoon!"

Hilary turned her attention away from the clash of metal and shooting sparks. "Where is she?"

"Behind you, a little to your left by the pedestrian-"

"Don't be so obvious." Came the curt order from their captain.

"I want to say hello to her." Hilary replied, eyeing Kai as he continued to battle against Tyson, beyblades furiously clashing in the beydish. "Maybe we should invite her over."

"Sure." Tyson enthused. "She seemed pretty nice and she annoyed Kai."

"Do you ever listen to anything I say?"

"No."

"Don't look now, but she's coming over." Kenny informed them, warily watching the girls' approach over the screen of his laptop.

"Relax. She's really is nice... from what I've seen." Hilary added, biting her lower lip. What if she was wrong though? What if Amber was the enemy? What if she was a spy sent to watch them? Her mission might be to befriend them and then take all their stats to use against them. Though, even if that was her plan, they could handle it. The Bladebreakers had never lost to anyone when it truly mattered. "By the way, do you guys have something formal to wear for tonight?"

"Tonight? OH! The welcome ball," Tyson groaned loudly then muttered a curse as Dragoon got slapped out of the dish by Dranzer. The score was now 2-1 but he'd been distracted. It wouldn't have happened like that in a tournament.

Kai sent him a dark look. "Would you concentrate? You're not going to be World Champ much longer if you're always thinking about something else. Keep your mind focused Tyson."

"It's just a practice game Kai, no need to get your 'knickers in a twist' to coin an Irish phrase." He smiled proudly at his use of local 'slang'.

"It's English actually."

"English, Irish, it's all the same."

Hilary flinched while Amber gaped at Tyson's utterly stupid comment, then she grinned broadly. "Don't let anyone hear you say that. It's likely to get you killed. It's sort of like saying Japan and China are the same."

"But they're nothing alike."

"England invaded Ireland centuries ago and people here are still twitchy about it." Amber confided. "Just a friendly warning."

"Are we blading or not?" Kai's sharp words were directed at no one in particular as he glared fiercely at the dish in front of him, slotting Dranzer into its place on the launcher.

The warm friendly tone of the group faded away as launched his blade with unerring accuracy into the middle of the blade with Tyson launching just a few seconds later. The other boys just exchanged glances, obviously noticing the sudden tension in the air and Hilary wanted to hit Kai for being so blatant about his dislike. Couldn't he at least pretend that he didn't think there was anything suspicious about her? The boys didn't seem to know how they were supposed to act and it was all Kai's fault. Even Amber picked up on the sudden awkwardness.

Hilary shook off her annoyance and tried to make her smile seem welcoming. "Hello again, Amber; it's nice to see you."

Amber shifted nervously as she looked around their little group. "Well, you did say to come along and see what all this Beyblading fuss was about. I thought I'd take you up on your offer. Though I was surprised to see you practicing here. Have you seen that little ass- uh, that boy since?"

Hilary sucked in a breath with a wince as her boys rounded on her. Tyson immediately called Dragoon back and rounded on her. "What boy?"

"Oh... sh–sugar." Amber muttered, shoving her hands into the pockets of her shorts.

Hilary shook her head. "It's nothing Tyson."

"A boy was rude to her in the park." Kai stated. "She handled him. Now come on, do you want to practice or what?"

"What did he say to you Hilary?"

"Nothing. He didn't say anything worth repeating." She refuted, her eyes flicking frantically to Kai needing him to distract Tyson. When Tyson was like this, Kai was usually the only one who could derail that deadly focus. Sometimes Tyson could be like a dog with a bone, intensely focused on getting what he wanted. But those times were rare and in between and she had never been the focal point before. It was unnerving.

"Fine, I'll go find someone else to battle. You're obviously too busy gossiping like a girl."

"Oh I hate that description." Amber grumbled under her breath, angling her head to glare at the two-toned boy. "Do you know a lot of girls that gossip? Is that why you use that term? Because let me tell you, gossiping is not gender determined. Boys gossip too and some people don't gossip at all."

Tyson sensing Kai's deadly aura tore his dark gaze from Hilary and quickly stepped in front of Amber. "Oh don't mind Kai, he's just a sour puss. It's Amber, right? I'm Tyson. We met at the airport."

"Oh yeah. Nice to meet you again."

Even though she was relieved that Tyson wasn't paying any attention to her, she couldn't help feeling that something was wrong. Amber seemed perfectly friendly and yet... there was something off about her. She couldn't shake the feeling that the flash of temper she'd shown to Kai was the first genuine emotion Amber had actually exhibited.

"Do you follow Beyblading much?" Max asked, peeking out from behind Tyson. "I'm Max, by the way."

"Oh I haven't introduced anyone." Hilary flushed. She had been so intent on watching Amber she'd forgotten her manners. "I'm sorry."

"Oh no, it's grand. I'll probably take a while to remember everyone's names anyway. There are a lot of you." Amber drawled, looking wryly around at the many bladers in the park.

Tyson didn't seem to get the sarcasm. "Yeah our team is pretty big in comparison to some of the others. That's because Chief and Hilary tag along too. Me, Daichi, Max and Rei are the actual team though." Tyson told her, pointing to each boy as he named them. In turn the boys nodded their greetings except for Daichi who was too busy rooting through Kenny's bag of parts with an ice-pop wedged in his mouth, hence why he hadn't contributed anything to the conversation... yet. "Kenny, or the Chief, is our mechanic and –"

"General dogsbody." Kenny piped up, petulantly, shoving at Daichi's head. "Stop taking things, Daichi."

Daichi reluctantly pulled his lolly out of his mouth to glare spitefully up at him. "I need an attack ring, mine is worn."

"There's nothing wrong with your beyblade. I checked it before we came and it was checked when we registered for the tournament." Kenny spoke with logic and reasoning colouring his tone but his nostrils were beginning to flare, a sure sign of his growing annoyance.

Tyson scratched his neck sheepishly while Rei wandered in to mediate again. "Yeah, that's Kenny; he's usually really mild tempered."

"_And totally taken advantage of._"

"Did your computer say that?" Amber asked, looking quickly at Hilary for confirmation.

"Oh that's Dizzy, his bitbeast. For some reason, she ended up in his laptop."

"Bitbeast? And how did it end up in your laptop? Did it crawl?"

"None of your business," Kai snapped.

"Kai."

"Aw man. Can't you just play nice for once Kai? She was just asking."

"No, it's ok, I don't really need to know." Amber decided, holding up a hand peacefully.

Kai simply shook his head. "If you're not going to practice, then I'm just going to go find someone else."

"No wait! Dude, we haven't even finished our match. Just- aw Kai come back!"

Hilary watched as Kai strode across the green lawn through the various boys launching and battling against each other. She sighed wearily before turning to Amber. "Don't mind Kai, he's..."

"Not making a good impression," Amber muttered with a shrug of her shoulders. "Oh well, at least I'll remember his name. So what are bitbeasts?"

"They're..." She trailed off helplessly. Was there a reason that Kai didn't want Amber to know what bitbeasts were? She couldn't see the harm. Anyone involved in Beyblading would know what they were. Even in tournaments it was announced who had what bitbeast. If she really wanted to know, it wouldn't be hard to find out the information.

"They're spirits of mythical beings." Max informed her enthusiastically. "You can find them in bitchips that connect to the blade and when they choose someone, they lend that person their strength and power making that blader a force to be reckoned with."

Amber took a moment to absorb that and Hilary had the strange sense that she found the idea ridiculous. But then her face transformed to one of excitement.

"Really? That's kind of cool. Can they talk? What do they look like? Can you touch them?"

They were all questions Hilary had wondered when she'd first heard of them and yet... she still couldn't shake the feeling that Amber didn't get how really cool it was. "No, they don't talk – well..." She turned to her team and they shook their heads, "no they don't talk and they look like animals usually. And no, you can't touch them. They're spirits. You probably wouldn't be able to see them, you have to have faith that they're there. But they're so amazing when you see them."

"Yeah you should see my Dragoon. He's the best. He's the great Dragon of Japanese legend."

"Pfft." Daichi muttered. "Your Dragoon might be pretty hot but your blading let's him down. A better blader could show his true potential."

"Oh yeah and who would you say was a better blader? You?" Tyson sneered, getting into the boys' face.

"I'm just saying that Dragoon is weakened with you."

"I'm the world Champion, no one is better than me!"

"Do they always fight like this?"

"Always." Max intoned.

"Always." Rei echoed.

"Ok then." Amber whispered, bobbing her head slowly.

"They're actually good friends, it's just usual that friends in sport are also rivals. Kai and Tyson are really close but they're their biggest rivals too. It forces them to battle better. That's why Kai's on a different team, so that he'll get a chance to go up against Tyson to determine who the best is."

"Every time we've battled in a tournament Tyson's always won but in practice matches Kai frequently comes out on top or it's a tie." Rei added to Max's explanation.

"Is that because of the Dragún?"

"No, Kai's Dranzer is a legendary bitbeast too." Hilary found herself explaining and she flinched. Oh please don't let Kai be mad at her for saying that. She hated Kai's silences. With Tyson, if he was mad, she knew she could get around him.

"You've really never heard of Beyblading?" Rei queried, pulling out his beyblade and holding it out for her to look at it.

Hilary watched as she took the small round object into the palm of her hand and studied it with due care and attention, running a finger down the image of Driger. "That's the bitchip. The bitbeast is contained within that but it's not a cage for it. The Spirit chooses to enter the bitchip to help its chosen blader."

"Is this a tiger? What's this one's name then?"

"That's Driger. He's... everything." Rei smiled softly, a tinge of sentimentality colouring his words.

"Does he look like this? I mean, have you ever seen him?"

"When they battle they emerge."

"Does everyone have one then?" Amber blurted out, suddenly looking younger than her years, with a bewildered frown pursing her lips. She handed it back to Rei and looked to Hilary for some answers.

"Nah, not everyone. Only the really good ones." Daichi boasted. "I got mine really young."

"No you didn't. You got it around the same age as most do." Tyson scolded. "But he's right, not everyone has one but you'll notice the top bladers will. It's kind of pointless to enter without one these days though some still do but they really need to work hard to get anywhere when up against a bitbeast powered blade."

"Oh. So you guys are really passionate and connected with your bitbeasts, right?"

"Yeah, if anyone ever touched my Dragoon, I'd pulverise them."

"Of course." Amber agreed. "That makes sense. But why Ireland? I mean, why are you all Beyblading here?"

"Each year a continent holds the battle. This year it's Europe's turn and so Ireland must have applied for it to be held here."

"Yeah, I think I remember something like that. So when the bitbeasts come out, they're energy right?"

"They're spirits... so they're made up of whatever spirits are made up of. I guess it's a kind of energy. Strange, I never thought to ask mom what they were made of."

"Your mum?"

"My mom's Judy Tate. She's a researcher and coach of the American team."

"America's got a team too?"

"Every country pretty much has a main team but then through tournaments they battle it down until there's only a few bladers left to form a team that'll represent them. Though sometimes, they just choose a team to represent a whole continent because if Europe had a team for every country, the tournament would last forever. So they hold preliminaries to find the best teams and usually narrow it down again."

"Oh... then what was that Irish guy talking about?" Amber demanded rounding on Hilary. "Unless he's in the European team."

Tyson frowned, looking to Rei. "I thought Miguel's team was representing Europe because Robert is working and Oliver's opening a new restaurant so the Majestics aren't entering."

Max made a face. "I think Aaron bailed out to concentrate on his studying."

"I think the whole team was disillusioned last year." Rei commented. "Claude wasn't too thrilled about blading again."

Hilary nodded. She'd heard about that too and she could understand. They had been sorely let down by their previous coach. "And Mathilda was thinking about giving up blading too but Miguel persuaded her against it."

"Maybe that guy you mentioned was added to make up the numbers."

"There had to be someone better than him. He broke the rules in a simple match against a ten year old. It was horrible. I've never seen someone do something like that."

"Kai did that once." Tyson stated looking at Kenny.

"He did?"

"Yeah but he was different back then, I mean he was just plain mean. He had this group called the bladesharks and they used to go around breaking blades and stealing parts. Not a pretty time for Kai."

"And what happened?" Amber asked.

"Oh, I battled him. He saw how good I was and decided he had to beat me."

"That's not how it happened, Tyson. If you're going to tell a story, get it right." Kenny admonished.

"So what really happened?"

"Kai was the world champ but Tyson beat him in the Japan tournament and Mr. Dickinson put a team together with Kai as captain. With that kind of responsibility, he was able to get away from that side of his life."

Amber opened her mouth to say something; then closed it sharply. Her eyes rose to the sky and she frowned. "Oh I gotta go. Dad wants to meet me for lunch, so I'll maybe see you guys tomorrow."

"We're having a ball tonight, a welcome one. You should come."

'_Tyson'_, Hilary sighed. He was always so ready to make a new friend that he never truly thought about the consequences. While Amber might seem nice, they didn't know anything about her. She could be a spy or something out to get their bitbeasts or anything.

"I'm not a blader. There would be no point to be me being there." Something rippled over her face even as she smiled faintly.

"That won't matter and with so many people there, no one will know. It'll give you a chance to see how cool the sport is and how many people are involved. You should definitely come. You can be my plus one."

'_Tyson...'_ Hilary shook her head then rolled her eyes at Rei when he flashed a grin.

"Um... well I guess I could. What do I have to wear and stuff?"

"Clothes would be a good idea." Daichi leered and earned a nice bonk to the skull from a disapproving Rei.

"Don't be rude Daichi."

"It's not overly formal, Amber. Just dress smartly and that should be fine. I mean these guys barely dress up at all." Hilary sneered jerking a thumb at her boys who all bleated out a disgruntled 'hey' at her words. She grinned at them. "You should come though."

'_And maybe that way Kai can figure out if you're good or not.'_

"Ok, then, I'll come and see what all the fuss is about."

* * *

Hadn't she said she was going to meet her father for lunch? Ian wondered as he peeked out at her from over the newspaper he'd acquired from a nearby shop. He had followed the girl from the park – he had been lucky to find her talking with the bladebreakers when he'd been out for a stroll – to the small crowded cafe where he'd inconspicuously chosen a seat that looked directly at her table. So far no one had joined her and with the way she was contemplatively sipping her coffee and listening to her music, she didn't seem to be expecting anyone. Unless her father was the invisible person that he'd caught her talking to. The idea made him snicker softly.

So far though, she hadn't spoken to herself at all; which was, to his mind, a letdown. If he was going to follow a crazy person, wasn't it fair for her to act crazy? How was he supposed to get footage for his blog if she refused to co-operate. So far she was being boringly normal.

He was curious though. How did she know the Bladebreakers? She wasn't a blader; or not one that he'd ever met before but maybe she had been at the tournament last year. Though when he had shown the video to Tala, he hadn't recognized her so he didn't think she was a blader.

He sighed heavily and the pages fluttered helplessly. Today was going to be a bust, he decided. She wasn't going to talk to herself alone in such a public venue and with her ear-buds in and her eyes glued to the novel in front of her; she was completely lost to the world. Damn.

* * *

Kai threw himself into the lounge seat when he arrived back at the hotel and gained a few raised eye brows from the hoteliers awaiting their buses or taxis to take them wherever they wished to go. A movement to his left had him lifting his gaze and he sighed wearily when the Blitzkrieg boys joined him.

"So you deigned to return." Tala sneered tossing himself into a seat while Bryan and Spencer moved to flank him. Kai would have laughed at the utter ridiculousness of the situation but he just couldn't be bothered. Tala was determined to dislike him and though he had believed they'd come to an understanding during the previous tournament it seemed like it had all washed away because he had decided to come to Ireland with the Bladebreakers. Usually in this situation, he would just do as he pleased and too bad for the person he pissed off but the Blitzkrieg boys were his team. He would be doing tag team battles with Bryan; it just wasn't smart to be at odds with them.

"I needed to get some air."

"Yeah?"

"Tala," Spencer warned quietly.

Tala shrugged him off but his expression cooled slightly. "Look, would it kill you to try practicing with us? You do want to win this tournament, don't you? How is aiding the Bladebreakers helping us?"

"Tyson's the strongest blader in the world. If I practice with him, I'm sharpening my skills."

"And ruining ours. This tournament requests we work as a team. You've spent every day since we arrived with them. You even sleep with China Boy. Is he your girlfriend or something?"

"Tala," Spencer sighed while Bryan smirked.

Kai's fingers clenched reflexively around the arms of his chair. Everything inside him screamed to walk away or hit him; instead he sat rigidly in his seat glaring at his teammate. "Don't talk about Rei like that." He warned in a low growl. "And instead of acting like a jealous wife, start practicing your skills. You don't necessarily need me there to hold your hand, do you?"

"Kai..."

"No, leave it Spence. He made his bed, he can lie in it. We don't need him. We have Ian. Kai can be relegated to the bench."

Kai ground his teeth. "If that's the way you wan-"

"No." Spencer's word was quiet and firm. "Kai is our captain. He's been registered as a player. Ian has not. We need Kai's skill. Ian isn't strong enough."

"Ian took out blondie pretty quick last time."

"By cheating." Kai snapped. "In a fair fight, Max would have kicked Ian's ass."

"Don't demean Ian. Just because he's short doesn't mean he can't blade. He struggled under the same training we did and he suffered longer than you did. He didn't have his Grandpa coming to bail him out."

The doors behind them opened and the boy in question stomped in. He cast them a swift look before groaning. "You're fighting again? You're like girls. Stupid."

"What's your problem?" Bryan demanded.

Ian growled under his breath, falling back into a vacant seat and lifting up a beer coaster, shredding it with quick, rough jerks. "That girl."

Tala rolled his eyes. "What about her?"

"Ian, tell me you weren't stalking her."

"I wasn't stalking her, Spence. I was just... doing some investigation."

"What girl?" Kai found himself asking.

"The one that talks to herself. She's a friggin' loony and- hey you know her. That one today."

"Hilary's friend?"

"Oh she's a friend of the Bladebreakers, why am I not surprised." Tala drawled dramatically.

"Shut. Up." Kai enunciated, nodding when Spencer laid a warning hand on Tala's shoulder. "Now tell me about her."

Ian wrinkled his nose and looked to Tala before answering; only opening his mouth when Tala made a signal to say it was ok to tell Kai. "Alright. Well, I was walking back to the hotel on our first day here and I was going through an alley because it was a shortcut but no one uses it because it smells funny-"

"Get on with it."

"I am. Just let me speak. So, I saw this girl. She was just standing there-"

"What did she look like?"

"A girl. Hair, eyes, body." At Kai's pointed look, he sighed loudly. "I told you; you saw her. That pretty one your friends were talking to."

"Amber." Kai muttered. So there was something strange about her. It certainly couldn't be a coincidence that Hilary had met her or that they'd become friends. No, there was something very odd about that girl.

"Yeah whatever. I don't care what her name is. Anyway, she was talking to herself and peering around the corner every so often. So _I_ thought she was talking on one of those phone devices that sit in your ear, only when she finally turned to me, there was nothing in her ear." Ian paused dramatically before leaning forward to confide in them, "She'd been talking to herself the whole time. I caught it on camera."

"Let me see it." Kai ordered.

"Oi, stop bossing him around. That's our job. You know, his actual teammates."

"Show me the film."

"Just show him Ian."

"What's the big deal? So the girl talks to herself. Loads of people did it back in the Abbey. You were considered weird if you didn't." Bryan stated idly.

"Nah this girl's really strange," Ian muttered, fishing inside his pocket for his palm camera. Opening it up, he found the file and passed it to Kai. "Press play."

Immediately a soft roar began to seep out of the speakers punctuated by clicks and snatches of other background noises. Kai watched as the camera focused on the female standing against the wall. From the back it was hard to tell who she was. But the grey hoody and jean ensemble was familiar. Still plenty of girls in Ireland probably wore the same. Then she began to speak:

"_Oh go cry me a river, won't you. I found out where they're staying, didn't I?" Sigh. "They just don't seem so bad." The girl continued to muse, tapping her finger against her lower lip. "Maybe... well except for Rude Boy. Seriously when they were handing out manners he must have been having a whizz," she propped a hand on her hip and gazed up at the rooftop of the nearby building. "There's no other explanation for his sheer... ugh!" _

It sounded like her, he mused. But he wouldn't be certain until she turned to face the camera. Though deep inside he knew they were one and the same. Despite the change in tone, the different language of sorts, this one was more crass and her tone was drier than the one the girl used around Hilary.

"_I don't like him.... no I'm not being a melodramatic human teenager. Oh piss off you auld biddy; you feckin' need me remember? Look," She snarled. "You stick to your damn job and I'll do my bit, got that? I know what's at stake and I'm not going to mess up ok?"_

What job? Who was she talking to?

Out of the camera's frame, Ian spoke up. "_Who are you talking to_?"

_She whirled, sucking in a breath and gaped at him_. "_Where did you appear from_?"

It was Amber alright. Shit, what did this girl want with Hilary?

"_What about you? The local mental asylum?_"

Hearing himself say this, Ian cracked up earning dark looks from his teammates.

_Her expression darkened venomously. "Ha, says midget boy wonder."_

"_It's hard to be insulted by someone who talks to themselves. I thought I had some weirdoes on my team but you take the cake. Next to you, they look like pillars of the community."_

Ian suddenly stiffened and the other three smirked, zeroing in on him. The midget boy shifted uneasily but Kai held up a hand. The video wasn't finished yet.

"_Oh bite me, bite size."_

"_Are you talking to me or one of your invisible friends?"_

"_Are you one of them too? Ugh, typical. You're all a bunch of freaks. No wonder Ireland's going to hell in a hand basket." With a 'tsk' of disgust, she shoved her hands into her jean pockets and stalked off. _

"_Hehe,"_ _Suddenly Ian's face appeared on camera_. "_A resident loony-toon free to roam the streets of Belfast captured live on camera."_

Kai closed the camera and handed it back to Ian as he thought on what the girl had said. One of them too? One of who? A Bladebreaker? A beyblader? Why did she call them a bunch of freaks and then try to befriend them? And why did she say that Ireland was going to hell? Was that just a phase? Was she simply angry that her country was being overrun by foreigners or was it something more than that? Kai frowned. Something was definitely different about that girl and he wanted to know what it was.

* * *

"Why is she here?"

Hilary squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her lips together before slowly turning to regard Kai with a bland smile. "Hey Kai."

He didn't repeat his question. He didn't need to. The raised brow and pointed expression said it clearly. Her smile wilted and her shoulders slumped. "Be nice." She admonished. "Tyson invited her today in the park."

Kai rolled his eyes and subtly cursed the loudmouth under his breath. Hilary sighed, tapping her glass with her lacquered nails. They were black like her dress though she didn't know why she'd bothered to dress up, even in a hotel, none of the bladers were acting particularly civilised. "Look, at least this way you can keep an eye on her."

He closed his eyes, leaning back against the pillar and despite the action, she didn't get the feeling she had been dismissed. Instead she felt as though he was simply thinking on what to say next. There was that air of anticipation that she had come to recognize as a sign that he wasn't finished speaking yet. So she remained where she was standing, watching the gathering crowds of people. Tyson was at the buffet table quickly restocking his plate while Max sat with Rick talking rapidly making the bulkier boy laugh in a way that nobody else could ever achieve. Rei was conversing with Miguel from the European team, but the big surprise to Hilary's mind was that Kenny was the holding court to two females. Both Emily and Amber were sitting at the table with him, having a very enthusiastic debate about roleplaying games.

Despite only being told about the welcome dinner dance just hours before, she had managed to find herself an ankle length skirt and top with a nice jacket over it. It probably could have just come from things in her wardrobe, Hilary supposed, but somehow she didn't think Amber would have clothes like that. She scowled at herself. Now that was just being bitchy. Maybe she shouldn't talk to Kai so much.

"You make it sound like I'm obsessed." He finally stated, titling his head back against the pillar showing off the pale skin of his throat decorated by a chain of linked silver. It shone against the open collar of his crisp black shirt that matched the black slacks he also wore. It too was a casually smart outfit but one that seemed to make Kai seem more elegant and refined but the untidy mess of hair and the glint in those dark brown eyes kept him from looking tame. She could see why girls fell at his feet. He really was handsome.

The words processed in her brain and startled a laugh out of her. "With a girl? Hardly."

The look he levelled at her could have killed a lesser mortal, she mused with a grin. She quickly took another sip of her non-alcoholic drink to disguise it. "Sorry Kai."

Whatever Kai might have said was abruptly cut off as Ian appeared before them. "Hey, you're friends with that weird girl, aren't you?"

"Ian," Kai warned.

Hilary glanced at Ian. She hadn't encountered the shortest member of the Blitzkrieg Boys up close before. She hadn't been with the Bladerbreakers the first time round and he hadn't been in the tournament last year which made her wonder why he had come this time. Still, despite never having a proper introduction, she knew well who he was from the mutterings of her teammates. From their talk, she had gathered that he was annoying, outspoken and obnoxious.

"Well you are, aren't you? Friends with that weird girl?"

For some reason she found it ironic that he had the nerve to call Amber weird when he was the one that looked like an overgrown garden gnome. He was short, stumpy and his thick patch of violet hair was shoved under an army green cap. His garnet eyes were flashing with over eager interest in a way that rubbed her wrong. He reminded her of Daichi but Daichi had youth to explain his irking attitude. Ian just seemed to thrive on getting under people's skin; as if it was his personal mission. So when he all but shoved his little camera in her face, she felt ready to hit him for being just so annoying.

"Get that thing out of my face or I'll break it." She snarled.

"Testy." The boy crowed, holding his camera out of the way but keeping it trained on her face. "So who is she and what's her problem?"

"Problem?" Hilary turned to Kai. His accent was a little thick but she was certain she had understood his words. Still, she looked to Kai for translation because she didn't understand what he meant by 'problem'.

"She talks to herself," Kai answered. "He's got a video of it."

"What? Are you sure?"

"I have a _video_ of it."

"But could she have been talking on the telephone or...?" She trailed off helplessly, her eyes seeking out the dark haired girl who was laughing out loud at something Kenny had said.

"She didn't have a phone or anything in her ear." Ian took great delight in telling her.

Kai shifted, taking a glass from the table beside him and taking a drink. "She seemed to be conversing with herself."

"Maybe she was talking to her bitbeast?"

"Does she have one?" Suddenly interested, Kai put down his glass and straightened.

"I don't know. She hasn't mentioned one and she's claiming to know nothing about Beyblading. We were telling her about bitbeasts today but... No, I really don't think she does."

"Then who was she talking to?" Ian demanded, turning to pick her out in the crowd. "I'm going to ask."

"You won't," Kai growled, grabbing the boys' shoulder and then dropping his hand when he was sure that Ian wasn't going anywhere.

"But – "

"Look, if she talks to herself, that's her... what's the word I'm looking for?" She said it in Japanese to Kai and he smirked as he translated. "Yes, prerogative."

Ian made a face. "Well there has to be a reason and why does she keep talking to you for?"

Hilary frowned. How did he know that Amber talked to her?

"Ian's stalking her."

"I'm not stalking her. I'm watching her. She's obviously nuts and you've invited... hey where did she go?"

She looked round. Amber was no longer with Kenny.

Kai cursed first in Russian then in Japanese as he made a move towards the table where Kenny and Emily were still talking. To his left, the rest of the Blitzkrieg boys sat in the corner, as unsociable as ever. Tala was lounging back sipping something amber in a small glass while Bryan had dropped his head onto his folded arms and Spencer was watching everything in that calm, observing manner.

"Kenny, where did that girl go?"

Kenny's smile faded as he blinked up at him. "Amber? She went to the um..."

"Ladies room." Emily filled in. "How's it going Kai?"

Kai flicked a dark look at her before stalking off towards the bathrooms with Hilary in tow. He never really understood what Emily's interest in him was. There was something so eerie about her almost knowing gaze, so he tended to avoid her at all costs. Smart girls were dangerous.

"What are you going to do?" Hilary demanded.

"_You_ are going to go in and see if she's there. If I'm right, she won't be."

"What are you thinking?" She huffed. Her legs were longer than most girls but they still had to move quick to keep up with him.

"At the moment I don't know what to think but she obviously has some kind of hidden agenda." And every time he thought about their previous enemies and what had happened: his battle against Brooklyn, losing Dranzer, Tala's trip to the hospital and Rei's bandaged figure, he remembered just why he didn't want to be taken off guard again by another enemy. If Amber was the enemy, he wanted to know before they entered the tournament. He did not want to visit another team mate in hospital nor did he want to risk losing Dranzer again. The last time had been too close.

"Hey Kai, have you tried this salmon-"

"Not now Tyson."

Hilary rolled her eyes. "That guy needs to stop thinking with his stomach; he hasn't even realized his 'plus one' has done a runner."

Kai simply grunted. He was beginning to know Tyson well enough not to be annoyed when he focused on his stomach rather than what was going on around him. The only thing that existed for Tyson was food and Beyblading, though sometimes he lacked focus on the latter.

"So if she isn't in the bathroom..." Hilary trailed off; eyeing the looming mahogany doors both hosting different symbols for male and female genders.

"Pray that she is." The last thing they needed was another suspicious competitor with delusions of taking over the world. Surely they all should have learnt from his grandfather's mistake. Bitbeasts and world domination just did not go together.

Hilary pressed her lips together before venturing into the bathroom and knew as soon as she crossed the threshold that Amber wasn't there. The doors hung open, empty of all occupants while the cisterns trickled with a quiet melody. She shook her head, a heavy ache of disappointment sinking like a stone inside her as she stepped back out of the bathroom and met Kai's grim look. With a brief nod, he pushed away from the wall and stalked back into the ballroom leaving Hilary to follow behind him.

* * *

**To Be continued**

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**A.N. **

If anyone has any questions, you can ask me on my **forum** which you can find on my profile. 

Ah so you know how I might have said Kai wouldn't really be involved much in this story... well Kai didn't like that so much. It really wasn't supposed to be about Kai – he was going to have his own side story that would be important but wouldn't be involved yet... but whenever Amber showed up, the little chibi Kai that lives in my head started wanting to know why she was there and what she was doing and why she was doing it and suddenly, Kai became involved. I'm not sure I like that he's so interested. He wasn't supposed to notice her and yet, it feels natural for him to be involved. I guess that sounds very weird but now there will be more Amber and Kai interaction... so I might change the characters involved since I'm worried people are thinking this is a Ian/Hilary pairing story. It's not. It's not supposed to be romance at all... but Kai and Amber are involved so... bleh screw the whole theory of me actually having a plan for this.

I do like this chapter and yes, I'm well aware that I haven't updated SLTS yet and I'm sorry but it's being very difficult to write at the moment. I keep trying and I just don't get very far with it, so please just be patient and read what I'm offering up. I'd really appreciate reviews for this story since it really is a trial to write at times since I don't remember the characters true personalities anymore. I did warp a good deal of them for AU purposes.

Happy New Year Everyone. Hopefully I'll update more in 2009 than I did in 2008.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Beyblade or anything affliated with it. Nor do I own anything that's recognizable but I do own Amber and the plot line.

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**A.N. **Wow. The feedback for this chapter was amazing and it really cheered me up, you guys have no idea. Please continue with the responses, they're great. So a big thanks go to those who reviewed: **ari dark princess, Starlightmonkey, Ryouya-Kyuuketsuki, yeoyeo, moonstone-91, Nubia, Bigredbus, ryeandcoke, LLOLL, Saye, Nexess, Leina, Senie, and glitteredvixen06**. And Yay, seven hundred plus hits for just three chapters, thanks!

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Chapter Four

_Kai Hiwatari is going to be a problem_.

Amber didn't need a little voice in her head to tell her that nugget of truth. The boy, by existence, was a problem. She leaned against the shiny copper plating that coated the walls of the lift and took deep calming breaths. Really she wasn't cut out to be a spy. She couldn't even play first person shooting games, any time the music in the scene changed her nerves were shot. In her mind, if she were the main character in an real time RPG, Kai would be the mini boss that constantly popped up and never died. He would be the one that annoyed her more than the final boss that kicked her butt. After all, the final boss would kill her, Kai would just be the perpetual bane of her existence and she didn't even know the boy that well yet. But she could feel the vibes. The 'I will irritate you until you leave us all alone' vibes.

_Pay attention._

"I _am_ paying attention." She muttered under her breath, casting a nervous look up at the security camera in the corner. She had thought about hiding underneath it but that would be too conspicuous.

_Have you come up with a story yet_?

"We don't even know if they suspect anything." Despite her words, she believed that the voice was right, as always. She would need a cover story. For some strange reason the beybladers were unnaturally suspicious. Nearly everything she said or did came under close scrutiny from the two toned bluenette or from Hilary and she was even being stalked by that big nosed midget from the Russian team who now claimed he 'no speakee da English, da?' which didn't even make any sense. Every time she asked him something, he would smirk that evil little smile he had and reply '_Nyet_'! She knew he spoke English. She'd heard him. Bleedin' foreigner.

She exhaled loudly as she watched the luminescent numbers slowly decline. 6... 5...

What possible cover story could she come up with? It would have to be a good one; after all, that blonde haired boy had caught her on the floor underneath theirs. No doubt Hiwatari would think she was up to something that involved them. She couldn't even claim to live in the hotel because Hilary knew she was living in her father's apartment.

_Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we struggle-_

"To deceive; oh aren't you very witty? Care to come up with any other age old quips? No? Didn't think so. So why don't you shut up? I'm trying to think."

But the words circled in her head. The voice, she refused to acknowledge it by its name, was right. She had woven a tangled web and she was thoroughly stuck in it. Why couldn't Kai and his band of miscreants stay out of her way? She blamed him. Hilary was fine, Hilary was her way in. Hiwatari was her way out with a boot up her ass.

2...

Here we go.

1...

0.

"Ground flood. Doors are now opening."

She listened to the metallic voice and watched with trepidation as the doors slid open. The breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding slipped soundlessly from her lips. Unlike she'd feared Hiwatari was not leaning against the wall lying in wait for her. She stepped out and glanced up and down the lobby. Nothing! No-one! She felt like doing a happy dance.

_Go now._

She rolled her eyes. She knew what she had to do. She didn't need lectures or orders from the voice. Her eyes roamed to the large double doors where the Blading party was being hosted and for half a minute, she considered just turning tail and going home. After all, it wouldn't change things if she just went home instead of returning to the party and besides, it would keep her out of Hiwatari's way and then maybe he would forget her.

She shivered; the careless words of the American echoing in her head. 'Hey you, Hiwatari's been looking for you.' The words had been delivered lazily, as if he'd just decided on the spur of the moment to pass them on when he saw her, they certainly weren't an urgent order but she couldn't shake the feeling that whatever reason Hiwatari was looking for her, it wasn't a good one. He certainly wasn't planning on dragging her into a nearby closet to have his way with her. She paused for a moment to weigh up the better outcome. 1. Get her face bashed in. 2. Get her face sucked off. Tough choice. She'd pick one.

_You flatter yourself. _

She snorted and rolled her eyes bitterly. She really was going to get that drill and take it to the middle of her forehead. It would serve the crazy bitch right. What would she do without a vessel? She'd have a hard time saving the world then.

_Your threats are empty._

They're filling up pretty quickly, she shot back fiercely. She was fed up with this stupid gig, with this destiny that she didn't even want. A teenager who saved the world. God, it was unreal.

Pulling out her earphones, her last line of defence, she shoved them into her ears and with a flick, blasted her music into her head. For a minute second her eardrums protested, then gave way to the pounding of the drums and soothing melody intertwined with harsh guitar riffs. Her lips instantly mouthed the words and she all but bounced to the main doors. Let Hiwatari shout at her, accuse her of god knows what. He certainly had no clue so why should she worry? The guy had a chip on his shoulder, probably didn't think too highly of girls involved in his sport; well she had news for him. She wasn't involved in his 'sport' nor had she any plans of becoming involved. Sport was too good a word for their game; if she wanted sport, she wanted men in protective padding wielding sticks and bashing the crap out of each other. She wanted action. Not spinning. God, the whole thing was gay.

She pushed open the double doors feeling like Aragon in the Two Towers at Helms Deep and took small satisfaction as the people at nearby tables turned to look at her. Up on stage, a petite girl with turquoise hair and a body that couldn't possibly be hers, was shaking her stuff and flirting with the crowd as she crooned sexily into the microphone. Amber grinned. Oh yeah, her earphones were a friggin' godsend. They blocked out stupid voices and pop stars; heck they were right up with there with the legendary Excalibur in terms of weapons.

Her eyes scanned the room for some familiar faces and she paused. There was the midget. He was standing beside a table of guys who were far too tall to be any relation to the lost member of the seven dwarves. The Russian team, she recognized from the internet pages she'd downloaded. Did any of them know there were pictures of them semi-naked posted on the site? Probably not. They looked mentally retarded, well not the red head, she didn't like him. He gave her the major willies. There was something unnatural about someone being that pretty. Still, something inside her stirred at it, something not quite part of her...

Oh for crying out loud, she groaned mentally, incredibly glad she'd blocked out the voice because the owner of the voice seemed to like very pretty boys.

She shuddered in revulsion and quickly turned away. Yuck. Now she'd have to find out how to ward off the gut feelings of the stupid voice and images. Oh god, there had better not be any images. She didn't think she could deal with that.

"Amber!"

She spun; heart in her mouth. "Hi." She relaxed as she turned the dial down on her music; all the while her mind was running a mile a minute. What was the loud-mouths name? Damn, she'd have to stop coming up with nicknames and learn their real names. The voice would know but the hell she was asking it.

"Where've you been? Hilary was worried about you."

"Hilary was worried?" Not Kai. Score! Blue-boy didn't have a problem with her, he was probably just asking for Hilary. For some reason Hilary seemed fond of the guy so naturally he was probably fond of her and was doing her a favour. _That _made sense.

"Yeah she said that one minute you were talking to Kenny and then you just disappeared. She said I was a bad host for abandoning you but I didn't abandon you, I just –" He seemed to struggle for words. She could have easily helped him. Left me, wandered off without introducing me to anyone there, gave me a chance to fend for myself amongst a bunch of strangers?

"- needed to get food."

Amber dropped her forehead to her palm. Was he kidding her? Food? Wow, Hilary was right when she said the boy had a one track mind, but what was he called again?

"But you were ok, right? You talked to Kenny?"

"Uh, yeah, Kenny's great. A little flustered but yeah he was really nice." And sweet and so easy to talk to. All she had to do was talk to him first and he just blossomed while his cheeks bloomed with colour.

"So where were you?"

"Tyson! Quit keeping the girl for yourself!" The blond one... Malcolm? No, too long. His name had been short. Wasn't she supposed to be good with names? Matching faces to names was hard. But at least she knew the loud-mouth was called Tyson something-or-other. She could work with that. Besides, Blondie had referred to her as 'the girl' which indicated he didn't know her name. Ha.

"I'm not keeping her to myself, we were just talking. You know, conversing. People do it all the time Max."

A-ha! Max! Malcolm was kind of close. Ma-lcolm, Ma-x. She shook her head sadly at her lack of a memory. With the invasion of the voice, she must have lost some of her memory capacity.

"Hilary's been looking for you." Max told her, a cheerful smile curving his lips and his blue eyes were warm and set off by the vivid blue of his shirt. He had shed his jacket somewhere along the way and the first few buttons of his shirt were undone with his sleeves rolled up, giving him a casual appeal. She shook her head. No wonder Kenny had a complex with girls, being surrounded by pretty boys. At least midget boy had a few ugly ducklings in his squad; if he just had pretty boy to contend with, she doubted he'd be so damn infuriating with his stalking.

"Yeah, Tyson was telling me."

"It's weird. The way she and Kai have been acting, you might think you had been kidnapped."

"Kai?"

"Yeah he was looking for you too. Stomping around and being all Kai-like and broody."

Oh brother. "He was probably worried on behalf of Hilary." She reassured herself.

"Nani?" Tyson bleated.

"What?"

"Yes."

"Huh?"

Max laughed out loud. "Nani, it translates as what."

"So he was asking me: what?"

"I wanted to know what you were talking about." Tyson explained.

"When?"

"When you said Kai was worried on behalf of Hilary. Why?"

Somehow Amber figured she was missing something here. "Why what? Why would he be worried? He and Hilary are 'friends' right?"

"What are you doing with your fingers?"

She looked down at her hands. Oh quote marks. She really needed to stop gesturing when she spoke. It really gave her away. "Well... he and Hilary are... fond of each other right."

"Yeah." Max nodded with a slight frown. "We're all fond of Hilary and Kai might hide it but he's our friend."

"Yes but he and Hilary are special friends, right?"

"Right." Tyson agreed then he caught her meaning. "No!"

Amber blinked. "I'm confused."

"So am I. What are you saying about Hilary and Kai?"

Max suddenly threw his head back and roared with laughter, almost knocking Tyson off his feet. "You think – haha – you think Hilary and Kai are – hehe – lovers – hahaha!"

"What?!"

"Ow. My ear." She muttered, glaring at Tyson before frowning at Max. "Well maybe not lovers exactly but they seem really close. I mean every time I see them they're together and talking and well, I just assumed."

"You assumed wrong." Tyson growled.

_Ass. You. Me. _

'Shut up voice.' "Um, sorry then. I didn't –"

"I need some air."

Amber blinked as she watched Tyson storm off before turning to Max. "What just happened? Is he and Hilary?"

"No. But you'd be closer to the truth there. Tyson's in a strong case of denial."

"And Hilary?"

His expression turned sober. "I don't really know. At one stage I thought she did but lately... it's hard to say. I just stay out of it."

"Good plan. I wish you had shared it with me." She grumbled, allowing him to lead her away from their spot.

"Don't worry about it. Tyson will get over his hissy fit soon. See there he is with Michael and Steve; he'll cheer up soon enough. So you don't like Ming-Ming, hmm?"

"What?" Was Ming-Ming a Japanese food? She tore her gaze from Tyson to give Max her full attention.

He tapped her earphones and gestured to the girl on the stage. "You don't like her music?"

She tugged the phones out but kept them looped around her neck. It clashed with the skirt and top she'd grabbed in the local _Primark _but she couldn't care less. Immediately the music from the pop princess echoed in her ears and for a baffled moment she struggled to place the song. "She's doing a Paramore cover?"

Max blinked and shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, you know the band?"

"I think at this stage everyone's getting to know Paramore."

"You forget," he laughed, "I spend a lot of time with the boys, music isn't really something we have in common."

"Oh." What did they have in common? They seemed so different to each other. "I know some Japanese music. Mainly Utada Hikaru – "

"No wonder you and Hilary are friends. Utada Hikaru is her favourite female artist."

"Oh. Surprise."

"So shall we go show Hilary and Kai that you're ok?"

"Sure." Or how about we avoid Kai altogether? She liked that idea.

* * *

"Well?"

She looked up from her spot on the ground and inclined her head to the shorter boy sitting on the crate behind her.

"It's true. They're in trouble. Again."

"Big trouble?"

The younger boy weighed up the answer, watching the light glint of his beyblade. "End of the world trouble? No. End of a civilisation? Yeah."

The girl rolled to her feet, stretching leisurely. "Looks like we're going to have to go save the world again."

The younger boy shook his head, amused. "No, we'll only be saving part of the world."

This caused the older boy to snort. "Let's go pay the Bladebreakers a little visit."

* * *

Hilary stiffened as she caught sight of Max approaching them but it wasn't Max that caught her attention but the girl his arm was slung around. "Kai."

"I see her."

"You don't really think..." She trailed off, unwilling to say the words that were running through her mind. It was unthinkable that Amber was their enemy and yet, how many times had they been befriended by those who would turn out to be their final opponent? How many times had they suffered because they had been unwilling to hurt someone who had once been a friend?

The answer was sobering. Too many times.

It always turned out well in the end but some day it wouldn't. She was afraid that this might be the tournament where their streak of luck would finally end. Tyson's good nature and his faith in his friends couldn't be their saving grace forever. They were growing older and so were their enemies, and as they grew up their encounters grew meaner, coloured by adult sensibilities.

"Hey look who I found." Max greeted, coming to a halt at their table so he could speak to everyone, though his eyes constantly flickered to Kai.

"Hey where were you?" Hilary asked, feeling that it was up to her to question the girl since Kai had sunk into silent mode and was sitting with his eyes closed. No doubt he was soaking up every nuance in everyone's behaviour but surely he could act a little bit interested since he'd been the one tracking her down.

"Oh, my mum phoned, I had to go outside to hear her."

Beside her, Kai stiffened and Hilary worked hard to keep her eyes off him. "Oh? I thought you told Kenny you were going to the bathroom?" She hoped Amber wouldn't get defensive. That wouldn't help her in the least but what if she was lying? She didn't look like she was lying and yet... something wasn't right.

"I was, but mum phoned on the way, so I went after talking to her."

"Strange, Hilary didn't mention seeing you in there."

Amber flicked her gaze to Kai and they seemed colder, almost mocking. The look seemed so out of place that Hilary suddenly felt tense. Her eyes flicked to Kai but his were still closed. It was unnerving. "Um, yeah I must have went in after or before you."

"I was using a different one. Woman troubles, you see, the ones nearest to us had no sanitary pads so I had to find a bathroom that did."

The table went silent as those not involved in the conversation slowly began to tune in, almost seeming to ask themselves if Amber had really said what they thought. Hilary couldn't quite believe it herself. How could the girl be so blasé?

"Uh, well..." Max trailed off, "Ming-Ming's great, right?"

Hilary tore her gaze from the pair who were steadily trying to stare each other down and joined Max in his attempt to change the topic. "Yeah she really seems to enjoy the attention and her voice is amazing."

"Yeah, I'm glad she's given up blading to concentrate on her singing."

"The sport will miss her though. Having a positive female role model was great for the sport. So many of the girls just aren't keeping with Beyblading anymore." Hilary agreed. "I mean Mariah's had to quit and we never see Mariam. I don't even know if Julia is coming."

"And Emily's turned her focus to the science of Beyblading rather than the sport." Max sighed. "Hey maybe you could take it up Hilary."

"Oh no, I leave the game to you boys. I wouldn't know what to do."

"We could teach you." Kai's words were quietly delivered but they were sincere and she found herself smiling. This was why she liked Kai. Despite the attitude and the aloof aura, he had these small pockets of sweetness that would pop up out of nowhere and they showed the good person he was inside.

Her eyes narrowed however when she noted the pointed look Amber sent Max and the way his expression became wary and watchful. Oh her spidey-senses were tingling now. She knew that look. She often was on the receiving end of that look when it came to her and Tyson. She'd have to take Amber aside and explain that she just wasn't interested in Kai in the way she seemed to think. That, as far as Hilary was concerned, she and Kai were friends.

"I got Ming-Mings' autograph!" Daichi blurted out, throwing himself into a vacant seat at their table and grabbing a nearby glass chugging it back. Hilary sighed and took it off him when he set it back down on the table.

"You have no idea what could have been in that."

"None of you losers drink anyway. I got vodka, pure Russian stuff, over at their table."

They all swivelled to glare at the Russian's table, the three boys sitting there saw them and with a grin Tala lifted his shot glass in a salute before downing it. Hilary shook her head in disbelief. "How is that even possible? They're underage!"

"What age are they?" Amber asked, inching a hip onto the edge of the table.

"Spencer's eighteen."

"He's of age then. Besides, this age thing doesn't mean zip in Ireland. If you have creditable ID, you get the drink."

"It's an underage bar." Max pointed out.

"Oh... well then you've got me. I have no idea where they're getting it unless they're going to the Hotel bar."

"I can't believe them," Hilary grumbled. "Why can't they just abide by the rules like everyone else? They're always trying to be the rebels of the group. Things would be more fun if they at least tried to be friends." She turned to Kai. "Are things still tense between you guys?"

Kai frowned pointedly at her then his eyes slid to Amber before coming back to hers. He grunted under his breath and looked away. She sighed. She hadn't meant to bring that topic up in front of a stranger; curiosity had gotten the better of her.

"Well I'm going to go guys. I've had a blast but I'm really tired."

"Oh, you're going?" Hilary leapt to her feet, with the feeling that she had been a terrible host. She'd hoped to get to know Amber more that night but she had been distracted with keeping an eye on Daichi – that mission was a complete failure; she was going to wring Valkov's neck... when his bodyguards weren't around – and keeping Kai from being alone, and then Amber had disappeared for an awfully long chat with her mother. So much for her well laid plans. "Well maybe you could come visit us in the park sometime?"

"Sure, I'd like that. You guys were fun and Kenny's a total darling... wherever he's disappeared to."

"He's always off somewhere. Oh he's with Rei talking to Ming-Ming."

"I'll go over and say goodbye to him then. And have a fun night for however long this goes on for."

"It shouldn't go on that much longer."

"Alright then. Well, I'll come to the park soon."

"Thank you for coming and I hope you had a good time." She bowed to the girl and the girl flushed slightly before grinning and waggling her fingers; then she was gone, skimming through the crowd leaving the table staring after her.

Hilary sighed and turned to Kai. "Well?"

"Hn." Oh well, that told her lots.

"What's wrong?" Max wondered, picking up on the atmosphere.

"Well what did she say when you asked her?" Ian demanded, popping seemingly out of nowhere.

Kai glowered at the midget. "Go away Ian."

"What did she say?"

Sensing Kai's rising ire, Hilary quickly jumped in: "She was in the bathroom, Ian."

It was almost comical the way the boy's face fell. "Bathroom?"

"Yes Ian."

"But- But – Kai, you bought that?! That's a lame excuse. Four year olds at the Abbey could come up with better excuses! The Bathroom? I can't believe that. She's lying!"

"Look, Ian, did it ever occur to you that she might be ok?"

"Uh, no! She talks to herself." Ian declared loudly, earning a pointed hush from Hilary.

"I talk to myself."

"Ugh, of course you do Blondie – wait, are you standing on a box?"

"Um, no. I'm not. Why do you ask?"

"You weren't that tall last time we met."

"I'm just taller."

"You liar! Show me. You have platforms on or something."

"Ian let go off Max's trousers. You'll rip them."

"I'm just wearing shoes."

"No way, I don't believe that."

"You're so paranoid!"

Hilary dropped her head in her hands and tried to hide the blush as Ian continued to molest Max as he sought to prove that Max had some help in gaining height over Ian. The poor boy obviously hadn't accepted the fact that he was vertically challenged.

"STOP IT!"

For a moment, she wasn't sure who was more surprised. The boys or herself. Then she realized that since she hadn't planned on surging to her feet, slamming her hands down on the table and shouting at the boys, she was more surprised. They, after all, had experienced her shouting before.

"Sorry Hilary."

She turned to Ian who reluctantly let go of Max's pants' leg and shuffled sheepishly. "Oh yeah, um, sorry..."

"So you should be. You're supposed to be representing Japan and Russia at this tournament and you're both acting like five year olds. Max had a growth spurt Ian, and I'm sure you'll experience one too. Now, let's just act like adults and enjoy the rest of the evening."

Ian slid into one of the vacant chairs, which was when Hilary noticed that Daichi had sidled off somewhere. Great. If he got more drink from the Blitzkrieg boys, she was going to knock their thick heads together.

"So Kai, you bought her story?"

"He couldn't exactly say she was lying, now could he?"

Max shook his head. "I don't get it. What's going on?"

"Kai thinks that new girl is evil."

"He does not think she's evil." Hilary defended. "She just might not be as nice as we previously thought."

"But why?"

"Because," Kai growled, "she keeps showing up everywhere."

"She talks to herself." Ian announced this with great relish, already digging in his pocket for his video camera. Hillary placed a hand on his arm to stop him.

"She probably lied about going to the bathroom." She stated with a sigh. "The story was a little over embellished and... there's just this vibe."

Max considered their words for a moment before sighing. "Yeah, I felt it too. She seems so nice though –"

"So was Zeo." Kai pointed out. "And look how that turned out."

Hilary bit her lip. Yes. She remembered Zeo. He had been an incredibly sweet young boy who Tyson had befriended two years ago; only he turned out to be a cyborg and had turned his back on Tyson to find a way to take the bitbeasts from them.

"Or what about Kane? He was nice at the beginning."

Hilary flinched again. Yeah Kane had been nice, really nice but then through brainwashing, he and his team had been picked to steal the Bladebreakers bitbeasts. It had been especially hard on Tyson and Rei since they had close friends on the Psychic's team.

Max shifted uncomfortably. "Well yeah but – "

"And Tyson suffered every time."

"Sure but – "

"And what about me?"

"You were never nice."

"Shut up Ian." Hilary snarled.

Max shook his head. "I don't get it, what about you?"

"I was the enemy once too."

"You weren't the enemy Kai, you were misguided and –"

"If I'm capable of it, then so is she. She hasn't got any bonds or links to us. She's an unknown factor and her interest in us and her ignorance of Beyblading is suspicious." With that as his parting comment, Kai rose to his feet and strode out of the ballroom, the crowd easily parting before him.

Ian's mouth fell open. "Wow... that's the most I've ever heard him say. I have to tell Tala. He'll be stunned."

Hilary sighed wearily and closed her eyes, dropping her chin to her upturned palms. Her eyes lifted to Max who dropped into the seat opposite her. "I've messed up, haven't I?"

"No, Hilary, you haven't. There's no evidence to say there's something wrong with her. Kai's just... I don't think he's ever really forgiven himself for stealing those bitbeasts or for letting Black Dranzer and Biovolt control him. Sure, in the end he was with us, but I think a part of him fears that someday he'll be lured back. And he's so close to Dranzer, that bitbeast might be the only..." He paused struggling for the right term, "being that Kai is close to. We were forced on him, Dranzer chose him. Time and time again, people have tried to take her from him and last time, they nearly succeeded. I just think he wants to be ready this time and well, Amber's... strange for lack of a better term. She's trying too hard. It's hard not to be suspicious."

"I never thought of it like that. Dranzer's probably the closest thing to family to him, huh?"

"I'd say so. I think of Draciel as my family and the same with the others. To lose them, I couldn't imagine it. When Rei lost Driger, he lost a part of himself."

"I can't help but think she's not bad. There's just something..."

"Something pulls you to her?"

"Hmm. Either way, I'll keep an eye on her."

Max studied her for a long moment taking a sip of his soda then grinned. "Well, I can't think of anyone better for the job, Captain Blood."

She ground her teeth and forced back a smile at the old nickname Tyson had come up with when she had been coaching them shortly after she had 'joined' the team. It made her smile to think of the strange circumstances that had brought her to this point. The person she had been then and the person she was now, she mused, were very different in their own ways but they were both the same, they were both her. She'd grown, she realized. She'd matured and a lot of that was due to the chances she'd been given due to her friendship with the boys who had become so much a part of her life. If the boys felt about their bitbeasts the way she felt about them, then she could understand why Kai was worried about the arrival of Amber.

Still she couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't the enemy. She let her gaze roam over the gathered bladers and they connected with the menacing glare of the boy from the park. He, on the other hand, she could well believe was the enemy.

* * *

It was late when Kai finally returned to his room after taking an hour of training down in the basement carpark. He was just slotting the keycard into the door when he heard footsteps coming down the corridor. His left hand stopped toying with Dranzer as he looked up but on realizing it was only Michael, he turned his attention back to the door.

"Out late Hiwatari?"

"You too, Parker." He muttered, frowning as a red light flashed and beeped. Great, his key wasn't working.

"Was out sampling the nightlife." The blond stated with a leer.

Kai nodded but he really didn't care. He slotted in the card again and watched with relief as the green light was illuminated and there was a click. He was just about to step through when Michael called out to him.

"Oh hey did you find your girl?"

He sighed and looked back. "Who?"

"The girl. I saw her up here earlier and told her you were looking for her."

Kai froze. "Up here? On this floor?"

"Oh no, wait I was heading up to this floor so I met her on the floor below, sorry."

Even so, Kai mused, why would she have been on any floor but the ground one. She didn't live in this hotel and it just seemed too suspicious for her to be roaming the upper floors of the hotel. Could she have been on this floor before Michael met her? Or had she been looking for their rooms?

It didn't matter, he supposed. She hadn't been on the phone to her mother like she had said. In other words, she had lied. Now why had she done that? Kai was determined to find out.

* * *

**A.N.** Well there you go the next chapter. Please review because it's a story I love but it's possibly the one that makes me most nervous because I'm out of my depth having not watched the series in so long. And I'm a review whore, I just love getting feedback. I should have BIA up soon and TFG but I will be starting SLTS when my study schedule lets me but I need to devote more time to it because it takes so much out of me.

Hope you enjoyed.

_-x- Zadien_ -x-


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Beyblade. I just own the plot and Amber Benson.

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Dedication**: This goes out to the wonderful girls on The Beyblade Discussion forum  in the Beyblade section of Fanfiction. I was lucky to come across the forum and realised that there are still people out there who want to keep the Beyblade fandom alive. If anyone out there agrees, they should really consider visiting the forum and adding their two cent on what could make this fandom continue.

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Summary

Bladebreakers are in Ireland for the world championship. They meet Amber who Ian catches talking to herself. Kai is instantly wary of her and doesn't trust her, especially when she lies about going to the bathroom andshe _talks to herself_.

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Saving Part of the World

By: Zadien

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Chapter Five**

Hilary could have cheerfully strangled Tala Valkov and his teammates for giving Daichi that alcohol. Not only had they given alcohol to a minor, they had also given him enough to have him completely blitzed (no pun intended) and they didn't even have the decency to stay up most of the night taking care of him while he worshipped the porcelain goddess. She wrinkled her nose as she held up a strand of hair to her face. The worst part was that at one point he had completely missed the bowl and managed to get some of _it_ on her. It was a good thing she had a strong stomach or she might have been fighting him for his place in front of the toilet.

Now three hours later, since Daichi had finally fallen asleep and showed no signs of arising any time soon, she slunk into her hotel room and headed straight for the shower, grumbling under her breath as she made plans to get her revenge on those Russian morons. Half asleep, she switched on the water, waited for it to reach the required temperature – she had realized the night before that there was never going to be a 'right' temperature but there was a bearable one – before she shed her clothing and stepped into the small cubicle.

Water sluiced down her skin as she carefully began to rinse out her hair. How Daichi had managed to miss she would never know, but then again, if they could manage to miss the bowl while sober, standing up and in control of their discharge, then why wouldn't they miss when drunk and kneeling over said bowl? It made her wonder why other girls envied her place on an all boys team. Didn't they understand what she had to put up with? Toilet seats left up; towels on the bathroom floor; the inability to switch on the dishwasher when it was full, and the snoring! It wasn't an easy job but she did it because she loved them as if they were her own brothers.

Still, she wished one of them could have looked after Daichi for her but Kai was MIA – again – and Rei, who she could usually count on, had cried off with a headache before the party had finished. Tyson and Max slept like the dead and Kenny, being the one who had awoken her to tell her that Daichi was sick, had retched as soon as Daichi began gagging. Her boys were different but she wouldn't have them any other way. Or so she kept telling herself as she frantically scrubbed her hair.

At least, she mused, they were honest about their faults. Kai liked to wander off without telling people – as the oldest he didn't answer to anyone -; Rei sometimes got homesick and took, what Hilary had come to describe as, a blue mood; while Tyson was gluttonous and a herd of crazed elephants wouldn't wake him; Daichi was a hot head; Kenny was a nervous wreck and Max was too nice at times. He never said no and he always saw the best in people even when they could be potentially evil.

Case in fact: Amber Benson.

Now there was an anomaly that Hilary just didn't understand. Kai was almost certain that she was up to something, though since it was Kai that didn't say much. He was unusually suspicious about people. Max and Tyson liked her as much as they liked any stranger. Daichi thought her eyes were a weird colour which Rei found mildly insulting. That brought a new argument to the forefront which Kai, weirdly enough, settled by pointing out that Rei was right, the eyes were, from a distance, the same colour; but that Daichi was also right because Amber's eyes were a shade darker. This then led to Tyson poking fun at Kai for noticing her eye colour at all. She, Hilary, had then left the room then to get ready for the party.

But still, she didn't really know what to make of Amber at all. On the surface she just seemed to be a friendly girl intrigued by the sport that was taking over her city. Maybe she was lonely, especially if she was just living with her father without anyone her own age and yet, there were things about her that just didn't add up. Things that made Hilary suspicious. Looks and false expressions, they just made her nervous.

Finally finished with her shower, she stepped out into the cool air and wrapped herself and her hair in towels before proceeding to dry herself off. _And where did she go last night_? The story of her mother phoning and then her going on an elaborate goose chase for bathrooms had just sounded too out there. Simple lies were often the best, she mused. The dog ate my homework was always caught because of the sheer complexity of it. How would a dog get to someone's homework anyway? Oh the 'my grandpa took my homework so I'd practice kendo with him' excuse was another good example.

She smiled, shaking her head at the memory of Tyson's idiocy as she pulled on her clothes. Once upon a time he had done nothing but annoy her, now she counted him as one of her best friends, even if he did tend to be overprotective when it came to other boys. She supposed it was merely because he was so used to her taking care of all of them; another male might threaten to take her away. Not that she'd ever leave the boys, no matter how many times they threw up on her.

She made a face and wrinkled her nose, taking a strand of her hair and sniffing it. Ginger spice and brown sugar, not bad.

A knock at her door caught her attention and she shuffled over to answer it, pulling the towel from her hair as she did so. Peeking out through the peep hole, she acknowledged her visitor by opening the door and walking away to fetch her comb.

Behind her Kai stepped into the room and closed the door. "She was up here."

She froze, hair hanging down in front of her face; then she whipped it up out of the way and gaped at Kai. "Up here? As in she was in our rooms?"

He shrugged. "Doubt it."

He glanced around the sparsely furnished hotel room. Apart from her pyjama's and the novel on her bedside table, her iPod and a cup she'd used for tea but hadn't washed yet, her room didn't look very lived in. But one thing she had learned from travelling with the boys was that that packing took less time when you knew where everything was. And with the boys barging in at all hours, it just wasn't seemly to leave her underwear lying around. Not that she ever did anything so crude at home herself, but she knew from experience how awkward it was to be looking around a room and see a pair of boxers thrown haphazardly over a lampshade.

"Kai?" She prompted. What was he seeing when he looked around her room anyway? Did he think it looked bare? Did he admire her neat streak?

He didn't look at her; instead he crossed to the window and looked out at the street below. "Michael told me that he saw her on the floor below last night when she was supposed to be talking to her mother."

Oh. "Well maybe she was looking for a signal for her phone?"

He quirked a brow and she sighed heavily. "No, she could have been," but the excuse sounded weak even to her ears, still she battled on, not wanting her gut feeling to be wrong about this girl, this enigma. "Ireland's technology is further behind than that of Japan." She smiled teasingly, "Didn't you hear Kenny complaining about the internet speed? Even with Dizzi hacking the lines for him, he was still struggling to stream his videos when usually he'd never have to do that."

"Hn." He gave an abrupt nod of his head, showing her took her point of view into consideration but she wasn't naive enough to believe that he would let this rest. Amber Benson was acting very strange and Kai was on to her.

He got to his feet and she followed him, good manners dictating that she should show him out. She skipped around him and opened the door with a sheepish smile at his pointed look, yes opening the door was generally seen as a man's job but it was _her_ room. A sharp gasp outside had her looking around and frowning in bemusement as she spied Tyson standing with his hand raised, his eyes flickering wildly between herself and Kai.

"Hey Tyson, how are you this morning?" Thanks for waking up and looking after Daichi for me, she added silently.

"Morning Hilary, sleep well?" Max chirped up pleasantly from over Tyson's shoulder. Of course, he would be in a cheerful mood since he had gotten a full night's sleep as well.

"Not really, I was up most of the night with a certain teammate of ours."

Tyson's expression was almost comical as his eyes widened, snapped to Kai and then his nostrils flared and a heated scarlet flush worked its way over his face as he glared menacingly at the bluenette.

"What?" Kai demanded, eyes narrowing. When Tyson merely growled, Kai rolled his eyes and stalked out of the room and down the corridor muttering something about going to get some training done before the preliminary matches.

Hilary watched him go then frowned at her navy haired friend. What was Tyson's problem now? Surely he couldn't be begrudging her one simple snide remark; after all, she _had_ stayed up with Daichi all night while he and Max had merrily galloped through dreamy meadows!

Max suddenly whooped with laughter. "Oh, really Hilary? All night?"

"Yes and let me tell you, it wasn't very nice. He got stuff all over my hair and I'm not really sure it's out yet!"

Tyson choked or gagged, she wasn't too sure but he did make a funny sound and his face turned puce under his tan. Max just grinned and slapped him on back as he continued to question her.

"So you didn't have a good time?"

"No, of course I didn't. It's something I would have preferred not to do but since neither of you two would do anything, it was left to me as per usual."

Tyson definitely choked this time and turned green; that only caused Max to laugh even harder until the poor blonde was doubled over, gasping for breath. With a furious scowl, Tyson turned and marched down the corridor leaving Max to stumble after him while she watched them, completely bewildered at the sudden shift in attitude. Why was Tyson angry that she had looked after Daichi? She should be the angry one. She was so tired she would probably fall asleep at the preliminaries, and what kind of example would that make? She could just see the headlines now: **'Japan Manager falls asleep at Promos' **or** 'Promotional matches are a snooze-fest for Japan'**.

She groaned. She'd take a few hours to herself, catch up on her rest and then head down to the stadium.

* * *

On the other side of the city, awake and aware, Amber Benson sat on a bench opposite the makeshift BBA office. It didn't look like anything spectacular, just an ordinary building with a small hobby shop on the first floor and above the narrow brown door beside the shop was a crude sign indicating that the office was on the second floor, up the stairs. For some reason she expected more.

_Standing looking at it isn't going to achieve anything. Not that this plan is fullproof anyway._

Shut up.

Besides, it's not like the voice had come up with anything of its own. And she refused to argue with it anymore. It was bad enough she had to endure the voice in her head being more vocal than usual but to converse with it would have her carted to the local Institute.

She took a sip of her tea and frowned. She couldn't just walk in there, could she? And what if someone saw her. Like Kai. She hated how suspicious he was of her. It just made her job a little more difficult. She needed them to trust her, to like her and to leave her.

At least she wasn't being stalked today. The big nosed Russian midget must have found something more interesting to study, like road-kill.

She should go now. She couldn't keep putting it off but she didn't know what she was supposed to say. How did you convince someone that your world was going to be destroyed because the voice in your head said so? Half the time she had trouble believing it. The world was going to be destroyed anyway, global warming, war, famine, pestilence... the whole shebang. How could a troupe of bladers make things worse?

Because her grandmother had explained the voice in her head. Her grandfather had dealt with the same voice and his father before him and his aunt before him. The voice was... inherited. And it wasn't even helpful. The only thing it ever predicted was the end of Ireland at the hands of teenage boys and girls wielding spirits. At seven that had sounded exciting. At ten that had sounded bizarre. At twelve it was unbelievable until the sport of Beyblading came to light and suddenly the voice had become more animated. And then the dreams had begun.

Since her fifteenth birthday, not a week went by without her dreaming about the apocalypse, or at least that was what it looked like. Lots of debris and burning vehicles, tornadoes and jagged lightning. Screaming, shouting and an awful sense of the end. And in the middle of it all, a rip in the sky, a hand coming closer and a figure standing in the eye of the hurricane surrounded by coloured lights that fly into the hole and then the world implodes.

Always at that moment, she awoke feeling shaky and disturbed, and more determined than ever to put an end to everything. She had to get rid of the voice; and if the only way to do that was to make the Beybladers leave, then she would do that.

Taking one last gulp of tea, she placed the foam cup in the nearby bin and crossed the street to the office.

* * *

Ian scowled. Why did he have to attend these pathetic promotional matches when he could be doing something way more important... like stalking that girl or sleeping. But no, Bryan had grabbed him by the scruff of the neck that morning, dumped him in the shower – pajama's and all – and had demanded he get up so they could go 'show their faces' at the arena. His face didn't matter, at least not according to the screaming fangirls at the front of the _Odyssey_.

'_All they wanted to see was Tala or Kai. Ugh. Give me a break.'_

He stomped down the stairs, taking in the scant amount of people in the players section of the stands. For some reason they weren't allowed to sit among the spectators anymore but then since the sport was now global, he supposed the BBA feared that they'd all be mobbed. Though not him of course because no one recognized him!

"Stupid fangirls... don't know a damn thing... pretty-boy faces..."

"What are you whining about?"

He looked up and his expression twisted into disdain. "What are you doing here? Your team isn't playing, right?"

"Nope but I am an ambassador for Beyblading so of course I'd be here."

He snorted. Ambassador for Beyblading. That Dickinson sure did have some barmy ideas. Seriously, who would hire a psychotic bint with a personality disorder to be an ambassador? "What happened to your singing career? Did it up and die?"

Ming-Ming shrugged elegantly and dropped into the vacant seat by the aisle. She crossed her legs, surveying the hustle and bustle as the dishes for the promotional matches were set up. A few quick friendly matches for amateur's and old pro's alike before the competition seemed like a good idea to her. It would certainly drum up interest though she wasn't quite sure why it was taking place in Ireland. The place was certainly not the centre of the world. She'd stated her thoughts to Garland through an email the previous month and he had replied that if the map was turned upside down vertically, then Ireland could be considered to be at the centre. He'd even attached an image to the email so that she could see.

Sometimes she hated when Garland was right.

"So you're from..." She scanned his pass and quirked a brow. "The Blitzkreig boys? That's funny; I don't remember seeing you last year."

He sneered at her, automatically defensive. "I don't remember seeing you three years ago!"

"When the Demolition boys stole everyone's bitbeasts? No, I was too young to go off on my own touring the world then; plus I was in talks negotiating a contract for my singing career."

"Yeah, and how's that going for you?" He muttered as he looked around for someone else to talk to. Who was this girl and why was she talking to him anyway?

"Great," She chirped. "I just completed a tour of Europe. It was pretty small scale but they were all sold out. I even had to do an extra couple of days in Germany."

"And you're here, why?"

"Because Mr. Dickinson asked if I would come here and do some songs for the competition. Like I always say, any publicity is good publicity and if I can help promote the sport of Beyblading, then of course I will. I even would have done it for free... but, that wasn't necessary. The BBA really know how to – oh my god! Is that Kenny?!" With a squeal the girl sprang to her feet, launched herself down the stairs and lunged at the Bladebreakers' geek.

Ian huffed out a breath and sauntered after her. After all he had nothing better to do and maybe having a few spoilers about Ming-Ming for his blog would earn him a few more donations.

"Kenny! Oh my god, it's so good to see you again!"

"Oh – uh – that is – Ming-Ming – uh... hi!"

Ian groaned. Oh great, the geek was a fanboy. How... scary. "What are you doing?" He wondered, as he took the seat beside Geekboy and lifted his laptop so he could see its screen.

"_Uh, excuse me, who do you think you are? Put me down, big nose, or I'll fry your –"_

"Dizzi no! Ian put that down. It's not yours."

"I never said it was; I'm just looking."

"Oh Kenny, it's been so long. How have you been?"

"Um," The boy flushed darkly as the girl played with his hair. Ian simply sneered and began to pull up the windows the boy had been working in. "I've been, um, good. Oh wow, you're looking... yeah! I mean, pretty. Uh, um, what have you, um, been doing lately?"

"Don't ask her that. Once she starts talking she never shuts up."

"Quiet you. Me and Kenny, here, have history."

The Russian blinked then shuddered. "I don't want to know. Hey, what does this thing do? Why do you have a camera? Hey is that a photo of Kai? How much RAM do you have? What kind of hardrive is this?"

"Hush! Me and Kenny were talking about my career. You're really very rude, do you know that?"

"Ah hush up yourself. Hey... are these all – ow!" He jerked his hand back causing the laptop to wobble on his lap while he sucked on his fingers.

"_I told you!"_ The mechanical voice sang.

Ian growled. "What is that?"

"That's my bitbeast, Dizzi."

Oh the geek was worse than he thought. "You computerised your bitbeast?!" What kind of freak was he? "Didn't you think you'd have more success with your bitbeast in your beyblade... jeez, such a geek."

"I didn't... it was an electrical storm."

"Yeah, sure." Ian snapped, shutting the computer and laying it on the seat beside him as he got up and walked towards the edge of the balcony overlooking the stadium. It seemed awfully far from the action, he mused, tuning out the pair in the background.

"So, um, Ming-Ming, why aren't you competing this time?"

"Well, because I don't have a team. Garland took some time off to get his bearings and took up Ice Hockey for a hobby and it turns out he's really good and has been snapped up by a minor league team so he's focusing on that. Crusher is looking after his sister, Monica, helping her recover from her surgery and all that." She trailed off and Ian listened on with baited breath. "And well, Brooklyn kind of wandered off the planet. I've been trying to get in contact to give him tickets to my show but... oh well. Mystel will be with him anyway. Those two are like two peas in a pod in a way, both seem to love living in uncivilised areas with bugs and other icky things."

Ian let out a sigh of silent relief. Good, if Garland and Brooklyn weren't here, there was a good chance that none of his team would end up in a hospital. "So what are you doing here then?"

"I told you. Concerts and a few promo matches against a few fans, no bitbeasts of course, but it should prove to be fun and get the sport out there to encourage new players."

The door at the top of the steps opened and a figure stumbled in. Ian smirked, immediately recognizing the slumped figure.

"Daichi!" The girl was up and lunging again.

"Ming-Ming? Aw crud, keep it down, ok?"

The girl who was about to smother the boy stepped back and stared. "Hey, you don't look so good."

"I don't feel so good. I think I'm gonna hurl."

"Didn't you do enough of that last night?" Ian taunted, snickering as he walked to his vacated seat beside the geek and slumped into it, lazily watching the red head from the Bladebreakers.

"Don't remind me." Kenny muttered; eyes glued to the screen before him.

"Don't remind you?" Daichi demanded. "I'm the one who suffered!"

"Shouldn't have drank that vodka." Ian chided. "So what is this? A gathering of the duds of Beyblading?"

"Hey! I'm a world champ!"

"No, you were on a team with the world champ. That's different."

"At least I'm on a team."

"Do you wanna come over here and say that?!"

"Give it a rest, guys." Kenny sighed, rubbing his temples. "I just came up here to get a little work done. I didn't realize anyone was going to be up here."

"I heard some people might be practicing for the promo matches later."

Ming-Ming nodded as she plucked a lip balm from her small handbag and began to apply some to her mouth. "Are you taking part Daichi?"

"Nah, Tyson is though, but I don't see the point of Beyblading unless you can use your bitbeast."

Ian nodded his agreement but Ming-Ming was quick to jump in with her: 'it's to promote the sport of beyblading' line. Really he didn't think half those punks would ever get past promo matches to actually get into the league and none of them were worthy of bitbeasts.

"Why are you up here Ian?"

"Because the boys are practicing and told me I'm not allowed to conduct any research."

"And by research you mean spy on Amber. She told me you were stalking her."

"Who's Amber and why are you stalking her?"

That big mouthed geek, couldn't he keep anything to himself? How was he supposed to become a renowned PI if people were just going to tell him off and expose his secrets?

"She's this girl that Kai hates. She's friends with Hilary and Tyson but Kai thinks she's out to get our bitbeasts. You know he's become really paranoid since last year. But I can understand that."

"Hey! We weren't out for your bitbeasts, Daichi. We just wanted to make Beyblading more accessible."

"By making everyone carry ID badges? Pfft, you were making it totally elitist."

"I find it ironic that Kai's upset people might want to steal his bitbeast when he was the one taking everyone else's with Black Dranzer." Ian mused thoughtfully, and slightly pleased that he finally got to inject the word 'ironic' into a conversation.

"Really? Kai did that? Wow..." Ming-Ming whispered turning away before she could see Ian slap a hand over Kenny's mouth to stop him from explaining. "Oh, but I thought he had stopped Beyblading."

"He did and he set Dranzer free but it came back to him so he took that as a sign to continue. He's back Beyblading with those losers though." Daichi stated, jerking a thumb at Ian who now had poor Kenny in a strangle hold.

"Uh, shouldn't you help him?"

"Who?"

"Kenny."

"Nah he can rescue himself, besides he needs to toughen up."

"He's turning blue."

Ian snickered at the facial expression of the short geek and abruptly released him, sending him flying to the ground. "Ah well, I'm bored of you dweebs. I'm gonna find something else to do. Smell y'all later."

* * *

"Um, excuse me?"

The BBA office was nothing like Amber had expected. For some reason when she thought of offices, she thought of bustling people, phones constantly ringing and people talking. Instead what she got resembled her Dentist's surgery only this place moved a lot slower. For twenty minutes she had been sitting in the small room watching the woman behind the desk answer the phone and tap idly at her computer. There was no movement from behind the door of Mr. Dickinson's office and Amber was beginning to think the woman had lied to her.

"Oh sorry dear, what was it you wanted again?"

"I _need_ to talk to Mr. Dickinson." Amber stressed. Seriously, didn't the woman realize the world was ending?!

"Oh... and what is your name again?"

"Does it matter?" Why was it so hard to get anywhere in this place? At her mother's hospital Amber could walk in and out of whatever office she wanted – that didn't exactly say much for their local hospital.

"Well yes it does. I need to see if you have an appointment with Mr. Dickinson," The woman said with a warm smile but there was a look of bafflement lurking behind it, almost as if the woman couldn't believe she was having explain this to her.

"I don't actually have an appointment per se but... I'm here on behalf of Tyson."

_Clever_.

This seemed to bemuse the woman. "Tyson?"

"Yeah, Tyson Granger, world champion?" Amber explained, wondering if the woman really was the receptionist if she didn't even know the name of the world champion. Maybe she was in the wrong place.

"I know who Tyson Granger is." The woman drawled, shuffling her papers and scanning her computer screen. "What I don't understand is why he would send you to talk to Mr. Dickinson. Why did he not come himself?"

"Um, he's training. You know, for the world championship." Duh.

_You're such an idiot. She knows your lying through your teeth._

Amber closed her eyes for a long second trying to push back the voice. "Look, Tyson wanted me to talk to Mr. Dickinson; now if you don't want to let me talk to him then fine, I won't. I'll just go –"

"Linda, there's no tea." An old man stated, hobbling out of the closed door. He came to an abrupt halt when he caught sight of the stranger in his office. Amber waved weakly, uncertain what else she should do. Was this Mr. Dickinson? Funny, she hadn't expected a Santa lookalike.

"Ah, Mr. Dickinson, there should be some more tea in the kitchenette. If you'd like, I could bring it into you in a few moments."

"And you are?" Dickinson asked politely, ignoring his receptionist and shuffling over to shake Amber's hand. As he did noticed that he seemed to be wearing that peppermint smell that she associated with all old men. That and Old Spice. His hands were wrinkled but the palms were smooth, pampered. Hmm.

"Amber Benson, sir."

"She claims Tyson sent her."

"Oh?" His bushy brows rose over the silver frames of his glasses as he studied her and she tried to make her expression as earnest as possible but she wasn't sure what he was seeing. "Well then, you must come in and have a seat. Linda, hold my calls."

Score!

_Oh yes, such a score._

I hate you.

She followed the old man into the office and found herself suitably impressed. The glass windows were hidden behind mocha coloured venetian blinds. The walls were a pale white coffee colour with mahogany furniture and a grey filing cabinet. There was a large desk which the old man took a seat behind in a comfortable leather chair and on the table there was a phone, pencils and pens, notebooks and a large silver laptop that was opened before him. With a wave of his hand, he indicated that she should take a seat, which she promptly did, grimacing at how hard the fabric covered chair was in comparison to his.

"So... did you say your name was Amber?"

"Yep."

"Not an Irish name. You are Irish, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"From nearby?"

"Donegal but my Dad lives and works in Belfast." It was on the tip of her tongue to mention her father's name but the voice held her back. No good giving the old man a way to get in contact with her parents.

"Ah, Donegal. On the west side, right? Very nice." He mused, leaning back and lacing his fingers before him. "So, what can I do for you?"

"Well Tyson – " He held up a hand and she faltered.

"No lies, please."

She felt a flush creep up the back of her neck. Great, so the guy was some kind of psychic, wonderful. "Alright, you want me to be upfront?" He nodded, still wearing that kind patronizing smile. "Ok, I want you to take your little bladers and leave Ireland. How's that for upfront?"

_Sign her up for a job in politics. Or maybe you could be a negotiator and tell everyone to jump or shoot the hostages._

She scowled and it only darkened when the old man failed to reply. What was he going to say anyway? Sure, I'll leave. Yeah right.

"Look," She blurted out, flustered. "By allowing the Beybladers to continue playing, you're risking a lot. Ireland's... it's not like those other countries you've been too. It's really mythical and it's dangerous having those bitbeast thingy's here."

"Why?"

"Because." She sighed heavily. Yeah because was really going to explain it to him. "Alright, listen, Ireland was home to these beings a long time ago but they faded away over time and retreated behind the veil which is like this giant magical curtain between this world and their world."

She paused for breath.

_Keep going_.

"Now the beybladers are here, that veil is going to dissolve because there's something big behind that curtain and it will suck up all the magical energy in the atmosphere and those spirit thingy's release magical energy because they essentially _are_ magical energy. So you have to go because if it wakes up, it'll destroy Ireland and take the whole country behind the veil."

Mr. Dickinson seemed to consider that for a long moment. His lips didn't seem to be smiling but they were hidden by that rather bushy 'tache so she couldn't really be certain of that. Still, she thought the atmosphere felt rather solemn.

Finally, he leaned forward. "Why?"

"Why? Why what?"

"Why take the country behind the veil? Why not take over other worlds?"

"It's magically linked to Ireland. Faeries don't just go traipsing wherever they want, you know. They're not like vampires. Land is really important to them. So it'll take Ireland back behind the veil and erase every human life that lived there."

"Erase? But why? Won't it need servants and slaves?"

"Been there, done that." She retorted, surging to her feet and beginning to pace. "They had servants, had priests and priestesses but they were fickle and turned to Christianity and so the faeries retreated behind the veil. Humans also brought technology to Ireland and Faeries hate iron or any manmade metal but mostly iron."

"Can't we fight it with iron then?"

"No. It's a spirit. You can't fight it unless you're a spirit."

"So the bitbeasts can fight it."

"No! Look, to manifest in this world it needs spiritual energy which it will siphon off the bitbeasts and so when it manifests, there won't be any bitbeasts to fight it."

"Ah." He nodded to himself and she threw herself back into her seat. "Can you provide evidence of this claim?"

"Like what? No! I don't..." She reached up to scratch her head then let her hand drop limply to her lap. He didn't believe her. No grownups ever did. "No. I don't think so."

"Well if you could, I'd be most interested to see it. I have a friend who is very interested in the mythology and lore of other countries and this would certainly intrigue him."

She curbed the urge to snort as she got to her feet. "So you won't go then?"

He rose as well, a polite gesture of good manners. "No," he offered his hand. "We've invested a lot of time and money into this venture and it wouldn't look very good if we were to call it all off now."

"Yeah, won't look very good when there's a hole in the sky and everything's being sucked inside, either." She pointed out, turning on her heel and exiting the office just as a tall blond pushed past her.

"Ah Miguel, what can I do for you?"

Amber cast the office one last look before she headed down the stairs and into the blotted out sunshine. "Now what do we do?"

_Don't ask me. I'm just the voice in your head._

Great.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't see the small figure standing on the other side of the street watching her with a triumphant grin and a small camcorder. Nor did she see the slender brunette who had just strode around the corner only to come to an abrupt stop when she realized where Amber stood. Instead, muttering to herself and the voice in her head, Amber headed down the street unaware that she was being followed.

* * *

"I don't get why I have to do this."

"I told you, it's the nice thing to do. You did almost cost him his life."

"Is it my fault he almost lost it? Maybe he didn't deserve to keep it?"

Mystel slapped his hand to his forehead as the duo walked down the crowded streets of the small European city they were travelling through. The sunkissed pavements beneath his feet were warm with the afternoon sun while the small cafés offered the promise of cool shelter from the unbearable heat. "Don't you believe in karma?"

"Karma-smarma. I just want a nap."

"No. We're going to Ireland. You're going to apologize and everything will be right in the world."

"There's nothing wrong with the world."

"You said there was. Last night you freaked out because a butterfly died in your palm... though that's not a very good example of the world ending when you consider they don't have a long lifespan but oh no, you said it was an omen."

His companion yawned and patted his hand over his mouth, a half-hearted display of manners. "I don't remember saying that at all. Besides, it's not like I cheated or anything. I don't see why you want me to apologize. What do you think I should do, buy him flowers?"

"Now there's an idea. Let's go."

"Aw crap. Mystel, come on!"

"Look, think of this as the perfect way to get into the Beyblading circle. You said you had a vision and no one will listen to you as long as Kai hates you." Mystel pointed out, holding up a finger, "Which he does. A lot."

"It's not my fault. I was ultimately a better blader than he was and he still won. I'm still surprised. He did faint six times. That's has to be a record. An embarrassing record but one none-the-less."

"That's the wrong kind of attitude." Mystel chided, stopping at a gelato stand to get something refreshing and cool. He turned his gaze to the sky and studied it under the shield of his hand. "On a more serious note, how bad was that vision?"

Brooklyn considered the choice before him, shrugged an elegant shoulder as he pointed out the flavour he wanted. "Bad."

"End of the world bad?"

"Tornados, flying car parts and a hand. With Kai Hiwatari in the midst of it all."

"Kai? You didn't tell me that last night."

"I didn't know that last night. I had another vision this morning while I was brushing my teeth. I almost died."

"In the vision?"

"No. In the bathroom. I choked on the toothbrush." He said with a small moue.

"Then how did you know it was in Ireland? Did you see a Shamrock?"

Brooklyn's eyes travelled to the small tourist stand in a shop doorway near them selling small shamrocks and little Eiffel towers. "No, there was a Beystadium with a hole in the roof, lots of screaming people, flying orbs of light and a big vortex sucking everything up. It was very reminiscent of the world ending and since the only major tournament happening now is in Ireland, I figured that would be the best place to go to."

"We definitely need to warn Tyson and the others."

"Yes, I agree. But do I have to apologize to Hiwatari? I don't think I did anything that warrants an apology."

Mystel waved him off, hitching his backpack up on his shoulder. "We've wasted enough time here, let's get to the airport."

"Oh hold on. I said I'd get Arista something from Ireland."

"But we're not in Ireland."

"She doesn't have to know that," And with that the tall red head jogged over to the shop, plucked a memento from the stand and darted inside to pay.

* * *

The _George Best_ Airport in Belfast was crawling with tourists and anxious natives as the four figures strode through the arrivals terminal. No one waved to them, no one called out their name or offered a greeting, instead the crowd seemed to part, staring at their strange attire. They didn't seem to notice the looks or the quick nudges or pointed whispers. No their attention was fixed within.

Leading them was the only female in the team and the three males unconsciously moved to flank her. They cut through the crowds easily, eyes straight ahead. They didn't talk, didn't need to because their minds were focused on the task before them and none of them would be swayed.

"Let's get this thing done, ok? We find the Bladebreakers and then we finish this, got that?" A male from the back stated, eying the darkening sky outside the wall of glass paned windows. "Let's split up and find them. Keep in touch."

The other three nodded and as soon as the group cleared the main doors, the broke apart and darted out into the city in four different directions.

* * *

_To be continued_

* * *

**A.N. **And here endeth the chapter.

For those who are interested: 

The next chapter of SLTS is 40 percent completed

The next chapter of TFG is 60 percent completed.

Updates will happen when they happen.

I may not update all the time but I constantly write. Reviews remind me that people care about reading my work, without those who want to read, there's no reason for me to post on this site. **So Please review**.


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